Give Me One Good Reason
by VolcomStoneBabe
Summary: A brief fling between Grace Harris and Cody Rhodes six years ago resulted in a son. Cody has better things to do and Grace is sick of him blowing off their son. They both lead separate lives but things change when Cody decides to actually be a father.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 1  
><em>

"What? No, Cody…you can't do this! Not again!" Grace Harris exclaimed over the phone in a quiet yet forceful tone.

"Like I said, something came up. Tell him I'm sorry, I'll make it up to him next time," Cody Rhodes said on the other end.

"No, Cody-" She started to protest but the man had already hung up. She pulled the phone away from her face and glared at it, her nostrils flaring with every angry breath leaving her body. That fucking prick! She turned, looking to the living room and her heart broke. There sat her beautiful little boy Tucker, clutching his Spongebob blanket to his chest, his overnight backpack sitting next to him as his little eyes darted from the front door to the clock. She could fucking kill Cody!

"Hey baby," She said softly as she approached her son, sitting down next to him on the couch.

He looked at her with his baby blue eyes and let out a small sigh, as if he had been expecting this. "He's not coming," He whispered. Her heart squeezed. She hated Cody for this. She hated that this wasn't the first time he'd blown off his son for something better, more exciting. She hated that her son got excited about spending a couple days with his dad, packed his bag and made a list of all the things they could do together. Then he'd sit around for an hour, waiting, knowing his dad had stood him up before but hoping that this time would be different. And most of all, she hated that after he'd been waiting for a long time, the minute that phone rang, he knew who it was. His shoulders would drop and his eyes would fill with water and he just knew that it was his dad on the other end cancelling…again.

She let out a breath at his words and slowly stroked his short brown hair. "Afraid not sweetie. He's very busy but he is very sorry and promises to make it up to you," She said even though she knew he wouldn't.

He nodded, his eyes looking at his shoes. "Ok," Another thing she hated. She hated that her son acted like he understood but how could he ever understand why his father didn't have time for him?

"But, I'm here," She said with a smile, moving her head so it was in his line of sight. The corner of his mouth curved upward. "And what do you say you and I find that old camping tent and have us a campout right here?"

"Inside?" He asked as if he had never heard of such a thing.

"Inside," She confirmed. Seconds later a full-fledged smile spread across his face. Mission Make-Son-Forget-He-Has-A-Shitty-Father: Accomplished.

"Let's do it!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"But first, how about you and I go out and get some ice cream?" She asked just to make him extra happy. Sure she had ice cream in the freezer but kids loved to actually go out and get it.

"Two scoops?" He challenged, holding up two fingers.

"Two scoops and all the toppings your little heart desires," She added.

His smiled widened. "Sweet!" He said before taking off in a run to put on his shoes and coat.

She watched him leave and she leaned back in the couch. God, did she mention she could just kill Cody? For years he played the same game: Have a day or weekend planned to spend time with Tucker, keep him waiting for over an hour, call and say he wasn't coming. She shook her head and ran a hand over her face. It just wasn't fair. Tucker deserved way better.

"Mom! Come on!" Her son yelled from the stairs, obviously ready to go.

* * *

><p>"Mmmm, you like that?" A scantily dressed woman asked Cody Rhodes as she rubbed and slithered her body all over his as they danced in the middle of nightclub with different colored lights flashing all over.<p>

He grinned instantly as she turned to face him and began grinding on him like she was a stripper and he was her pole. Hell, she could have been a stripper, he'd only just met her and she certainly had the moves for the job. "Yeah baby, I like that a lot," He said, earning a grin from the woman.

He definitely hadn't seen his night heading in this direction. He had grabbed a bite to eat with his buddies and planned on picking up his son, Tucker, after so they could go home to his place and watch Spongebob or Barney or whatever the hell the kid was into these days. Not exactly an exciting night. But then after dinner, his friends suggested they go out to a club and pick up some girls and it had been an easy decision for Cody. Watch kiddie shows and go to bed early or go out and get laid. Definitely the latter.

When he'd called Grace to tell her he wouldn't make it, he knew from experience he had to keep it short otherwise she would chew his ass out. He could tell she was pissed at him but what else was new? She was always pissed at him. He didn't really see what she was so mad about anyway, he was sure she'd rather Tucker spend time with her than Cody anyway.

"Want to get out of here?" The woman asked in his ear, using her teeth to bite his lobe, immediately breaking his thoughts.

"What's your name again?" He asked as his hands gripped her hips, bringing her up close to him.

"Candy," She answered seductively.

Yep, he thought to himself, definitely a stripped. "Well Candy, let's say you and I head over to your hotel," He answered her earlier question with a smirk that held a promise of all the evil things he was going to do to her before their night together was over.

* * *

><p>Grace woke up the next morning with a groan. She opened her eyes and then blinked trying to figure out where the hell she was. Then she remembered Cody cancelling last minute, her coming up with the elaborate idea of setting up a tent in the living room to more than make up for Tucker's disappointment, and then eating way too much ice cream. She crawled out of the tent quietly, thankful she'd left the front flap open just in case Tucker needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, or her, for that matter; those damn zippers always got stuck. She walked into the kitchen and sighed as she made herself a cup of coffee.<p>

She'd been mad last night about Cody bailing on Tuck but now she was just disappointed. And in a way she felt guilty. Sometimes she wished she'd never told Cody she was pregnant at all, it would definitely have saved Tucker all the disappointment. But she knew it would have been wrong to hide a son from Cody, and that was ultimately why she'd told him.

She knew Cody was a professional wrestler and had a relatively glamorous lifestyle with lots of money and women thrown at him constantly. She just wished he'd take some time out of his schedule for his son; his son who thought the world revolved around his father. And no doubt Cody felt the same way about himself. He was so goddamn selfish. _Something came up_ he'd said last night. Like your dick, she thought to herself bitterly. She didn't know who he thought he was fooling; definitely not her. She knew he had gone out with his buddies last night, probably picked up a girl or two. That just made things so much worse. She could never imagine picking a man over her son…ever. Her son always came first, especially if they already had plans.

She took a sip of her coffee, silently wishing that Cody could see how much he was hurting his son. Sure, Cody called while he was on the road, so it wasn't like father and son were strangers, but Josh needed to actually spend time with his dad, it was crucial time he would never be able to get back.

She looked up when she saw her son walk out of the tent, his mouth stretched in a yawn. "Good morning shrimp," She said as she pulled out all the fixings for pancakes. "You sleep good last night?"

He nodded as he sat at the kitchen table. "Last night was really fun mom, thanks,"

She smiled as he grabbed a crayon from the box that was practically permanently placed on the table, and began to draw on a sheet of paper that was next to the crayon box. "Aw, no sweat baby," She mixed up some pancake batter in silence as Tucker focused on the picture he was drawing. She looked over at the fridge that held the last picture her son had drawn last night while waiting for his dad. It was two figures that looked exactly the same but one was much taller, obviously they were meant to be Cody and Tucker. They were holding hands and smiling happily with the sun shining in the background and the grass below their feet blooming tons of flowers. She planned on giving that picture to Cody the night before but now she thought he was unworthy of such a loving gift. "Why don't you go wash up?" She asked as she started frying the first couple pancakes.

Tucker took a couple seconds to finish his drawing before jumping up and running to the bathroom to wash his hands. She set the pancakes on a plate and walked them to the table. She cleared his spot, putting the crayons back and picking up the picture. "That's you and me," Tucker said as he came back. He stood up on his chair so he could see the picture his mom was holding. She reached a hand out to wrap around his waist to keep him safe from falling. "camping inside with ice cream." He explained as he pointed things out in the picture.

"I love it, can I keep it?" She asked as she kissed his cheek.

He nodded excitedly. "I'll hang it up," He said as he walked over to the fridge. He looked up at the picture he'd drawn of himself and his dad hanging up and his smile slipped off his face as he remembered all the fun things he had wanted to do with Cody the night before. Grace frowned as she watched her son struggle with the emotion he was feeling. Moments later Tucker took off the magnet that was holding the picture he'd drawn of him and his dad. He then put the picture he had just drawn on top of last night's creation and used the magnet to secure it.

Grace gulped hard at that. She knew her son was upset, even though he wouldn't show it. But she also knew that the minute Cody started showing him some attention, the young boy would be an excited kid again and all the love he felt for his father would overshadow the fact that the man constantly blew him off. "Come on kiddo, you don't want these to get cold," She said as she steered him back toward the table while she mad more pancakes for herself.

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Grace said into the phone over an hour later. After she and Tucker had finished breakfast, she'd cleaned up and taken a shower while he sat down stairs with a coloring book and crayons in front of him and Spongebob on the TV. She had just finished doing her hair and pulling on a pair of navy shorts and a white T-shirt when the phone had rang.<p>

"Hey you," The masculine voice on the other end said and she could practically see his smile.

She let out a sigh as she sat down at the foot of her bed. "Hey Liam," She said in a tired voice.

"Uh-oh, I don't like that tone," He said. "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to have to cancel our date today," She said sadly. She'd been dating Liam for six months now and she really liked him and best of all he and Tuck got along really well. Because Cody was supposed to have Tucker today she had made plans with Liam to spend the whole day at the beach.

Liam let out an understanding breath. "Cody," He guessed.

She nodded even though he couldn't see her. "He no showed again last night," She explained.

"What's his excuse this time?" He asked curiously, knowing the issues she's had with Tucker's father.

"Something came up," She answered. "And as always I have to be the bad guy and tell Tuck his dad's not coming. And then I came up with this random idea of setting up a tent in the living room," She said with a laugh.

"You're a really good mom," Liam said after a moment of silence. "I know Tuck can't really see it now but when he gets older he'll remembered all the things you did for him to make up for that asshole," That asshole obviously being Cody; there was definitely no love lost between her boyfriend and her son's father.

"Oh I know he will, I just wish Cody would put in a bit more effort,"

"Well hey, it would be a shame to ruin this beautiful day. How about Tucker comes with us to the beach today?" He suggested happily.

She put a hand over her heart as a small smile reached her lips. "You really wouldn't mind my son tagging along?"

"If I minded I wouldn't have suggested it," He said honestly.

She let out a contented breath. She couldn't have asked for a better boyfriend. Not only did he and Tucker get along but they enjoyed spending time together. "You're so sweet," She whispered intimately. She remembered when she'd met Liam, she'd taken her car into his car repair shop to get her brakes fixed and he'd asked her out. She gave herself a pat on the back for immediately accepting his invitation.

"And how about you guys pack an extra set of clothes and we'll stay overnight," He suggested.

"Oh, Liam…I don't know," She said. Even though Tucker knew that Liam was her boyfriend, she didn't want to expose him to them spending the night together.

"Separate rooms of course," He added as he realized what his previous statement had sounded like.

She thought it over momentarily. "Ok…yeah, that'd be really great, Tuck will love it,"

"Great," He said smiling. "I'll pick you guys up in an hour or so, that work?"

"See you then," She said before hanging up.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hi guys! So I haven't posted anything in months and you would not believe how much I miss it! I wanted to wait to post a story until I completely finished it so I could have more frequent updates but I haven't made any progress at all and I want to post these stories! I hope you enjoy this one, I'm really enjoying writing it. And if you're wondering what happened between Grace and Cody, I explain it all in the next chapter, so no worries. :) Let me know how you like this story, I'd love to hear your feedback. Thanks guys!**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 2_

"Knock knock," Liam said as he opened Grace's front door, poking his head in as he rasped a couple times on the door.

Grace looked up from her spot in the living room and smiled. "Hey you," She said as she stood up and made her way over. Liam was definitely not hard to look at. He was tall and buff without being over muscled, the kind of physique that one could only get from doing manual labor for a living. He had brown hair down to his shoulders which he usually pulled back into a ponytail and he boasted the prettiest blue eyes she could ever remember seeing.

Before she reached him Tucker was running down the stairs and flying into the older man's arms. "Liam!" He exclaimed happily.

"Hey little man," Liam said with a grin as he lifted the boy up easily. "How you doing?"

"Good. Did mom tell you? We camped out last night inside," Tucker relayed excitedly emphasizing 'inside'.

Liam lifted a surprised eyebrow, pretending he didn't know. "You did what? That sounds fun, I love camping. Maybe you guys can invite me next time," He suggested as he looked over at Grace with a smile.

"Can we mom?" Tucker asked his mom.

She nodded. "Absolutely,"

"She says you can come," Tuck said, turning back to Liam.

"Thank you, I can't wait. You ready to go to the beach?" Liam asked and Tuck nodded. "Why don't you go change into your trunks and grab your things?" He suggested as he set the young kid down who immediately took off running up the stairs. Liam let out a little breath and turned to face his girlfriend. Immediately a smile that matched hers graced his lips as she walked toward him. Once she was close enough he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. "Hello," He said softly.

"Hi," She said back. Seconds later his lips were on hers sharing a sweet kiss that slowly resulted into their tongues dueling playfully.

Liam forced himself to pull away, not wanting start something he couldn't finish. "How are you doing?" He asked as he ran his hand over her hair soothingly knowing what a bad day she had yesterday.

A little breath escaped her lips and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Ok I guess. But let's not talk about it. I don't want him to ruin our beach day," Him, obviously referring to Cody.

He grinned. "I can agree with that." He pressed another kiss to her lips before they heard Tucker's feet thumping down the stairs. "You ready?" Liam asked and both mother and child nodded. "Alright, let's head out,"

* * *

><p>"Come on, pick up the damn phone," Cody mumbled to himself as he pressed his phone closer to his ear, clearly getting annoyed that the number he was dialing was ringing but no one was picking up.<p>

He'd woke up around noon that afternoon with a naked blonde wrapped around him in a hotel room he'd never seen before and the details of what happened the night before more than a little hazy. He'd crawled out of bed and got dressed. He'd been making his way to the door when he'd heard the husky overly feminine voice on the bed ask where he was going. "Gotta go toots, thanks for the good time," He'd said before leaving.

Once he'd gotten home he'd immediately hopped in the shower and pulled on a pair of black basketball shorts and a gray tee. He decided since his day was free he might as well call Grace and make plans to spend the rest of the day with Tucker. But here he was, an hour and four unanswered phone calls later just sitting on his couch with nothing to do. He contemplated calling one of his buddies but he actually wanted to see Tuck. He was only home until seven o'clock tonight and it'd be nice to see to his boy.

"Where are you?" He asked out loud as he ended the call that had gone to Grace's home answering machine. He hadn't wanted to call her cell, that was a little too…personal and they didn't do personal, but he saw no other choice. His time was limited. He scrolled through his contacts and found her cell number which he couldn't remember dialing since they'd gone on their, what, three or four dates? He couldn't quite remember how many it had been. He briefly wondered if her number was even the same.

"Hello?" Yep, that was definitely Grace's voice. Though it wasn't the irritated tone he was used to hearing directed at him. No, today she sounded happy and amused.

"Hey, it's me," He grumbled. He waited for her to respond but she was silent. "Hello?" He asked, wondering if she'd hung up.

She rolled her eyes. "What do you want Cody?" She asked as she walked further away from the beach towel she'd been sitting on while watching Liam and Tucker build a sand castle a few feet away.

"Where the hell are you? I've been calling your house for an hour," He complained.

God, he was an asshole; always expecting her life to revolve around his. "What do you want Cody?" She repeated in an annoyed tone, ignoring his question.

Great, so she was mad at him again, as always. "Well I've got a few hours before my flight; I was thinking I'd stop by and see Tucker."

"What?" She asked incredulously. "You cancel on him an hour after you were supposed to pick him up last night and you think you can just stop by and say hi?" He was fucking unbelievable.

He rolled his eyes at her dramatics. "We can argue about this some other time. When are you guys going to be home? I'll come by,"

"Don't come by because we won't be back tonight." She said simply even though she knew he wouldn't leave it at that.

"What do you mean you won't be back tonight? Where are you?" He asked annoyed.

"We're at the beach," She said.

"You and Tuck?" He asked skeptically.

"Yes and Liam,"

He scoffed when he heard the name of her boyfriend. "You took my son on your date with that idiot?"

"No I took our son with me to the beach to get his mind off of his father standing him up," She countered.

"Oh please, I didn't stand him up; I just gave you more time to spend with him. If anything, you should be thanking me,"

She put her palm to her forehead. "You are quite possibly the douchiest douchebag I have ever met," She said in an honest voice. "Are you seriously trying to justify the fact that you blew off Tucker to get laid by claiming you're doing me a favor?"

He frowned. "What do you mean I blew him off to get laid?" How did she know?

"Because I know you and you're a selfish little bastard,"

"Hey-" He started to protest but she cut him off.

"Cody, you know what, screw you. I can't deal with this conversation now. Tuck and I won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. He'll see you next Thursday," She said and then added, "Oh, that is if something doesn't come up again," She finished smartly before hanging up. She let out a groan as she turned her attention back to Liam and Tucker.

What Grace hated most about Cody was that she couldn't hate him. He had given her the love of her life and no way could she regret that. But that didn't stop her from wondering what she'd seen in him in the first place. She'd met him six years ago when she'd been a bartender at a popular bar in the Tampa area. He'd come in with some friends, spotted her from across the room and chatted her up immediately. She'd turned down his first two offers to go out the next night but he'd buttered her up with his flirtatious smile and remarks and the third time he asked her out seemed to be the charm because she'd said yes. Their first date had been sweet; he'd taken her out to dinner and a movie and ended the night with nothing more than a gentle peck on the lips. The second date consisted of dinner and dessert before they'd ended up at her place, passionately rolling around on her bed naked. She wasn't normally so easy but there was something about Cody that caused her to lose all her inhibitions and she had a feeling there were dozens of other women out there who knew what she was talking about. Their third and last date had been her favorite. He'd packed a picnic basket of chicken, salad, biscuits and of course Champagne and taken her to the beach so they could eat it as the sun set. They'd finished eating moments before sundown and when they were done, Cody had pulled her back to rest against his chest and he'd wrapped his arms tight around her as they watched the sun disappear on the horizon. They'd shared a couple sweet kisses and when it was dark, she'd invited him over and they made love, eliciting feelings Grace hadn't felt for a man in a long time. She'd been excited about this new relationship she was developing with him and she felt giddy with anticipation to get a phone call about their next date. But that phone call never came. For some reason that she still didn't know, he stopped calling. After that third date he'd dropped her like a bad habit. And if it hadn't been for her finding out she was pregnant two months later then she probably would have never had to face him and her embarrassing feelings toward him again.

"Mom!" Tucker yelled breaking her trip down memory lane. He waved excitedly and pointed at the sand castle he and Liam had made. "Come see our castle!" She grinned before making her way over. At least something amazing came out of her short fling with Cody.

* * *

><p>"What? Oh come on Grace," He started to say but it was obvious she had hung up on him. He looked at his phone in surprise. <em>He'll see you next Thursday, Oh, that is if something doesn't come up again, <em>she'd said. Damn, she made it sound like he always canceled his scheduled days with Tucker; please he only did it once in a while. He sat on his couch and thoughtfully stared at the blank TV screen in front of him. Well, he had actually cancelled last week too because he went to Vegas with some buddies. And he was pretty sure he'd canceled the week before too because most of the roster was in town and he threw a party. And, dammit, he'd canceled the week before that too so he could go boating with some friends.

Shit, he thought to himself as his head fell into his hands, was he really as awful as Grace made him sound? She'd called him a selfish bastard. Ok, so he'd missed a couple weeks but that didn't make him selfish or a bastard. Everyone was entitled to a sick day or two right? And he was sure she wasn't the perfect mom either.

And then there was the discussion of that moron that she was dating. "Liam," He muttered in a disgusted tone. He'd met the man only a few times but he wasn't too fond of him. And he especially didn't like how much time he spent with his son. He'd have to talk to Grace about that for sure, Tucker was getting too attached to someone who wouldn't stick around.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys! So glad so many of you are liking this story so far. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, I love to hear what you think. Thanks! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 3  
><em>

"Ok, so Claire, I'm going to need you to run to the store real fast and pick some things up." Grace said to her employee as she handed over a shopping list. "I'm gonna try a couple new recipes later today," She explained the long list of ingredients she normally didn't use in the cupcakes she made at her bake shop.

Claire ran her eyes over the list and nodded. "Alright no problem, I'll probably be an hour at most,"

Grace watched her employee leave the store before grabbing a tray of cupcakes and restocking the display after the early afternoon rush. She moved around with her usual smile on her face. No way could she be doing what she loved with a frown. She felt truly blessed that despite the struggle she'd experienced right after having Tucker, she was able to open up her own bakery and be relatively successful. Of course, she thought begrudgingly, it helped that Cody was able and willing to pay more child support than necessary, allowing the money she made to go back into the business.

The store phone rang and she picked it up almost immediately. "Grace's Cupcakes how can I help you?" She asked as she cradled the cordless phone between her ear and her shoulder as she rushed to take cupcakes that were done baking out of the oven.

"Grace. It's Cody," Cody said from the other end.

"Oh…uh, hey," She said not really wanting to talk to him.

"Listen, so I got an earlier flight home Wednesday so I was hoping I could take Tuck Wednesday through Friday instead of just Thursday and Friday." He suggested as she set the hot tray on the counter top.

She resisted scoffing. "That depends," She said hesitantly. "Are you actually going to show?"

She heard him inhale as if he was holding in his anger. He took a few seconds to calm down as he ran his tongue over his teeth. "Yes or no?" He finally asked.

"I don't want to get him excited again only to be let down," She explained.

"Grace…" He said in a warning tone getting angry. "I'm doing you a favor by asking, I could have just showed up on Wednesday and surprised you both,"

"Ha!" She said angrily as she threw her oven mitt on the counter. "You are doing me a favor?" Ok, so maybe that wasn't the wisest choice of words, Cody thought to himself. "You are such a fucking jackass! Goddamn, you are doing me no favors Cody, you have never done me any favors. Leaving Tucker waiting for you for hours resulting in me having to pull tricks out of my fucking ass just to cheer him up, yeah that's no favor," She vented.

Cody's eyes flashed in anger. "Quit throwing that in my face," He said lowly. "And excuse me? I haven't done you any favors? Are you forgetting how you got your goddamn precious bakery in the first place?"

Her teeth clenched. "Oh trust me, I haven't forgotten; you won't let me! When you bought the shop, I told you I didn't want you to give it to me," She started but Cody spoke up.

"I don't want my son's mother unstably bouncing around from job to job," He explained, his voice rising.

Her voice rose just as much. "I told you I didn't want you to hold this over my head,"

"I'm not holding it over your head, shit!" He exclaimed as he paced the floor of his locker room earning looks from his coworkers as he threw his hands up in the air. "But don't tell me I haven't done you any favors,"

She took a couple deep breaths, knowing she had to hang up soon or she was going to explode. She looked up when she heard the little bell over the door sound. A smile instantly came to her face when she saw Liam's grinning face walk through. "Ok, whatever," She said into the phone, holding her index finger up at Liam, telling him she needed a minute. "Wednesday is fine but I'm not telling Tucker. If you actually show you can surprise him but when you don't this way he won't be disappointed. God, you're such a prick," She said before hanging up.

"There's only one person I know who you would talk to like that," Liam said softly as he walked behind the counter to console his girlfriend.

She pouted as she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek against his strong chest. "I can't stand him," She whispered as she felt tears come to her eyes.

"Aw baby," He said as he rubbed her back soothingly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Don't let him get to you like this,"

"I can't help it. He knows how to get under my skin," She explained as she tilted her head up to accept a much needed kiss from him. She let out a content sigh as their kiss broke. "You have perfect timing. I was sure I was about three seconds away from being the first person alive to kill someone over the phone,"

He cracked a smile. "Well, I'm sure even if that was possible you would have been able to resist,"

"I don't know," She said, unconvinced. She moved her arms from around his waist to around his neck as she pressed herself closer. "Kiss me," She whispered, needing his loving touch to soothe her anger and frustration.

He smirked. "Absolutely," He said before pressing his lips to her. She moaned at the contact and immediately opened her mouth to let his tongue inside to dual with her own. She knew this was totally unprofessional to be making out behind the counter of her bakery and usually when Liam came over they would at least have the decency to go into the back kitchen but her phone call with Cody had worn her out and she didn't want to move. Her fingers gently scratched where his hair met his neck and in response his hands on her waist tightened. "Did I hear right? The jackass is taking Tuck on Wednesday?" He asked as he kissed his way down to her neck.

"Well, that's what he says, we'll see if he comes through," She said as her eyes fluttered closed.

"Well you let me know if he picks him up and if he does, then you come over to my place. I'll cook you dinner, we'll have a nice dessert and you can sleep over." Liam said huskily as he worked his lips over the sweet spot on her neck.

"Mmmm," She moaned both from his words and his lips on her skin. "That sounds perfect,"

* * *

><p>"Goddamn," Cody said angrily as he tossed his phone into his bag.<p>

"What's up?" His friend, Ted DiBiase, asked from his spot on a folding chair where he was lacing up his boots.

"That fucking woman hangs up on me every single time," He explained as he sat on his chair.

Ted cracked a smile. "So what'd she say?" He'd been more than a little surprised when his friend arrived at the arena today on the phone, trying to get an earlier flight home. He'd been even more surprised when Cody told him it was because he wanted to spend more time with his son. Ted had always got the impression that partying came first for the young man, his son was always second. He didn't know what caused the change in his friend but he was proud to see it and hoped he kept it up.

"The same bullshit," Cody said as he grabbed his boots out of his bag. "Are you actually going to show this time?" He mocked in a girly voice. "It's just bullshit man! He's my son too, I can see him when I want,"

"Yeah, but I mean, come on, Cody. You have to admit that you are not always there when you say you will be." Ted pointed out to his friend.

Cody glared at the other man. "Whose side are you on man?"

Ted chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Oh please, I'm on your side. But I'm just pointing out that maybe Grace has her reasons for being skeptical about you doing what you say you will,"

Cody was silent as he thought over what he said. "Ted…do you think I'm a bad father?" He asked what he'd been thinking about all weekend suddenly in a quiet voice so the other guys wouldn't hear.

Ted sat up straight in surprise at his friend's question. "What? Cody, no. No, come on now. This is all new to you, it's understandable that you're going to make some mistakes." Cody let out a breath, not quite as convinced as his friend seemed to be. He'd been thinking about what Grace had said to him all weekend. She made it sound like he was the world's worst father and Cody couldn't help but evaluate his parenting skills. "Come on man, what brought this on?" Ted asked, breaking Cody's thoughts.

Cody looked at his friend and shrugged. "I was just curious," He let out a breath, willing himself to forget about Grace her opinions. "Enough of this crap, let's go over our match,"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait but I was on Spring Break last week and had 3 books to read so no time to do any fun writing. SO glad so many of your are enjoying reading this story as much as I am enjoying writing it! Thank you so much for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it. Let me know what you think of this chapter!**

**And side note, I've been getting a few questions about Tucker. So he is six years old but I'm not really around kids that much so I don't really know their mannerisms and their speech and vocabulary and stuff. I'm trying hard but like I said, I just don't know so I'm guessing. So if it's bothering you or taking away from the story please let me know if you have advice or suggestions and I'd be glad to fix it. I really want to grow as a writer so any advice you have is definitely welcome. :) thanks again!**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 4_

Wednesday night rolled around quicker than Grace would have liked. The week was uneventful and she was currently sitting on the floor with Liam and Tucker around the coffee table as they played a game of monopoly. Liam had offered to come over tonight just in case Grace needed his help or support when Cody no-showed again. Even though Tuck had no idea that Cody intended to come over tonight for some extra time with his son, it wasn't going to soften the blow any when Cody calls tomorrow and has to cancel when Tuck is actually expecting it.

"Son, how could you?" Grace mocked a hurt tone as she handed over the monopoly money to Tuck after she landed on his property.

He simply shrugged and accepted the money, adding it to his disorganized pile of fake bills. "Sorry mom, you're the one who rolled a seven," He said nonchalantly as he picked up the dice and rolled.

"You're a vicious little man," Liam added playfully. Grace smiled up at him and gave his knee a comforting squeeze. It was so incredibly nice to be here right now. Sitting with her son and her boyfriend playing a simple board game; she didn't want to jinx herself or anything but it felt very much like a family. Her son deserved a family.

At seven on the nose the doorbell rang. Grace looked at Liam, silently asking him if he really thought it could be Cody. The man simply shrugged. "I'll be right back, no cheating young man," She said playfully pointing at her son as she stood up.

"Oh come on mom," Tuck threw his hands up. "I cheated that one time, are you ever going to let me forget it?"

"Absolutely not," She said as she left the room.

"No one likes a cheater little guy," She heard Liam tell her son.

She smiled when she heard that. The smile instantly slid off her face as she saw Cody standing on the other side of her front door. "Well…" She said after a moment of silence. "I must say I am impressed. I didn't think you'd actually show."

Cody smiled. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me,"

"I don't know why that _would_ surprise you," She countered with her arms crossed over her chest. "You've only gone back on your word every week for the past month,"

His smile fell and he ran a hand through his hair. "How many times do I have to ask you to stop throwing that in my face?"

"I'm not throwing it in your face," She said, her face showing complete disgust. "I'm simply stating facts,"

He inhaled and nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Well, I think that's another conversation for another day,"

She nodded in agreement only because she didn't want to fight today. She gestured for him to come inside. "Now, remember I haven't told Tucker that you're coming so this is going to be a really special surprise for him,"

Cody quietly followed her as they walked down the hall; he stayed back a little to remain hidden when she walked into the living room to further prolong the surprise factor for the little guy.

"Tuck," She practically sang with a grin on her face. "Someone is here to see you,"

"Who?" Tuck asked in an uninterested tone. His back was still to his mother as he looked at the game board. "Mom," He said finally turning around. "Come on, it's your turn!" He exclaimed impatiently.

A second later Cody stepped out from behind the wall, offering up a genuine smile at the sight of his son. "Hey little man," Shit, the month that went by not seeing his son had seemed to go by so fast but as he stood there looking at Tuck, he couldn't help but feel like so much time was wasted. And damn if Tuck hadn't grown a few inches since their last weekend together.

"Dad!" Tuck exclaimed excitedly as he ran and launched himself at his dad. "I missed you dad," He said softly as his little arms wrapped tightly around Cody's neck as the older man stood up straight, bringing his son with him. "I missed you," He said once more as he pulled back slightly to look his dad in the eye.

Cody's heart thumped guiltily. "I've missed you too big guy," He said in a gentle tone. "Sorry I've been away for so long,"

"Are you here for me?" Tucker asked.

Out of the corner of Cody's eye he saw a man moving from the coffee table to stand protectively next to Grace. No doubt that loser Liam. "Well of course I'm here for you? Why else would I be here?" His answer sent a smile on Tucker's face. "Ready to spend the weekend with your dad?" He asked and much to his relief the young kid nodded eagerly. "How about you go throw some stuff into a bag and we'll head over to my place," Cody suggested as he set Tuck on his feet. In an instant he was off, running up the stairs, ready to spend some time with his dad. Once Tuck was out of sight, Cody faced forward and sure enough, there was Liam with his arm around Grace.

"Cody, you remember Liam," Grace said as she reintroduced the two.

"Ah yes, the boyfriend," Cody said with a nod in the man's direction. "The mechanic, right?" He asked as if Grace had so many boyfriends it was hard to keep them all straight.

Liam nodded, his grip on Grace's shoulder tightening considerably. "The wrestler, right?" Liam threw back at him.

"Guilty," Cody said with a shrug.

"You think that's a good message to send to Tuck?" He asked seriously.

Grace's eyes widened slightly as Cody's did just the opposite and narrowed. What was this guy implying? "And what message would that be?"

"Well, you know, that violence can solve all your problems," He answered.

Cody was silent momentarily, trying to figure out how to reply without knocking this guy out, before answering. "I appreciate your concern but I think my son's doing just fine,"

"Well, of course, Grace's a great mother. But don't you think all that violence is a little much for a six year old? I'm assuming you let him watch it,"

"I absolutely do, I watch it with him every Friday that he's with me," Cody said, crossing his arms over his chest in a defensive manner. What he did and did not let his son watch on TV was none of this Prick's business.

Liam made a noise that said he didn't think it was such a good idea. "Grace, you think that's a good idea?" He looked at her, looking for her support.

The silent Grace looked up in surprise and confusion. She was honestly quite shocked Liam had opened this can of worms. She didn't understand what he was doing, if she had problems with how Cody raised Tuck she would tell him, she didn't need Liam doing it for her. "Um, actually I do; I always let Tuck watch it. I think it's important that he sees Cody at work and know why his dad can't always be there for him and that he works hard to support himself and Tuck,"

Though Cody was truly pleasantly surprised, he was smiling smugly while Liam was looking at his girlfriend like she'd just kicked him in the nuts. Score: 1 Cody, 0 Liam. "Thanks Grace," He said sincerely. "It's nice to know you let the little guy see me in action,"

"Tucker," Liam started, turning his attention back to Cody. "You keep calling him kid or big guy or little guy. His name is Tucker."

Cody's eyes darkened and his fists clenched tightly at his side as he took a menacing step closer to Liam. Grace's boyfriend was just a couple inches taller than Cody and obviously knew his way around the gym but Cody had no doubt that he could bench press the mechanic and then beat his ass. "I know what his name is you jackass,"

"Cody," Grace said in a warning tone.

He ignored her. "I helped pick his name out; I was there when he was born. Hell, I was there when he was conceived," He said just to piss Liam off even further. It worked when he saw the flash of anger in his eyes. "I don't know who the hell you think you are," Cody said poking the man on the shoulder. "But I am Tucker's fucking father,"

Grace slid into the tight space that was between the two men and pressed her hands on Cody's pecs, having a great deal of trouble ignoring the little jump they gave at her touch. "Cody, Tuck is upstairs," She reminded him.

"Then you better get this fucker out of my face before I kick his ass," Cody said.

Grace turned to face her boyfriend. "Liam, maybe you should go wait in the other room,"

He tore his eyes away from Cody to look down at her. "Hell no, he's all talk,"

Cody's fists clenched at his side as he took a forced step back. My son is upstairs, he reminded himself. "I'll wait for Tuck outside," He said as he turned around and headed toward the front door.

"What the hell was that?" Grace demanded angrily as she heard the front door close behind Cody.

"What?" Liam asked surprised. "I was standing up for you and Tucker!" He said defensively.

"No you weren't," She said and then pointed a finger at him. "You were purposefully starting a fight. He was actually being somewhat tolerable before you made snide comments about his parenting,"

Liam breathed deeply before taking a step away, putting his hands in the air. "I need a drink," He said before walking away.

Grace sighed in frustration before turning around and heading toward the front door. She found Cody sitting on the porch when she stepped outside. "Hey, I'm…genuinely sorry about that. I don't know what's gotten into him," She said as she took a seat next to him leaving a great deal of distance between them.

He shrugged. "He hates me, I hate him; it's no surprise one of us snapped,"

"Still…he said some pretty hurtful things, I'm sorry,"

"Grace," He said as he turned to face her. "Really, it's ok, I can take it; I just had to get out of there before I lost it."

She nodded, facing forward as they sat in silence for a while. "I also want to thank you for coming through this week. You have no idea how much this means to Tucker, he's missed you a lot,"

"You don't need to thank me for spending time with my son. And though you might not believe it, I've really missed him too." Cody said.

"Mom?" They heard Tucker yelled from himself. "Dad?" He yelled wondering where his parents were.

Grace stood up and opened the front door. "Hey champ," She said with a smile as Tuck looked over at her.

Tuck's smile fell. "Where's dad? Did he leave?"

Before Grace could protest Cody walked in behind her; he couldn't deny the tone of his son's voice when he thought he had left, as if that was a serious possibility, broke his heart. "Of course I didn't leave Tuck, just getting some fresh air," He explained and felt relief when he saw his son's smile return to his face. "You ready?" He asked. Tucker nodded. "Alright, let's head out,"

Tuck walked forward and hugged his mom who had squatted down to be closer to him. "You behave for your dad alright?"

"I will,"

"And call me tomorrow, ok?"

"I will," He repeated.

"And have some fun will you?" She asked with a smile.

"I will," He said with a grin.

"Alright, I love you," She said, hugging him once more and kissing his forehead.

"Love you too," He said as she pulled away.

Cody put his hand on the boy's head as he walked up to him. "See you later," He said as the two walked outside.

"Bye! Have a good weekend," She said and stood at the door waving until Cody's car disappeared down the street.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys! :) Thanks again for all your reviews, I really appreciate them! I hope you liked this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it. This tension between Cody and Liam is only the beginning. Let me know what you guys think of this chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 5  
><em>

Grace closed the front door after Cody's pick up disappeared from view. She stood by the door momentarily, her ears perked up as she tried to hear where Liam was. No sound at all; he must be in the backyard. She let out a sigh and ran a hand over her face as she walked into the living room. She grabbed the monopoly box and sat down on the couch and began cleaning up the game. A few seconds later she heard the sliding door that led to the backyard slide open. She knew it was Liam but she didn't turn to see him; she was pretty mad at the way he'd behaved earlier. He sat down next to her on the couch and simply watched in silence as Grace finished putting all the pieces of the game into the box. She set the box on the coffee table before leaning back into the couch as she finally lifted her eyes to look at Liam.

"Want me to get you a glass of wine?" Was what he chose to open with? Grace had to hold back her catty remark.

"I'd rather talk about what just happened." She said in a cold tone.

He looked down at his feet and shrugged. "I don't know what you want me to say,"

"You can start with explaining why you thought it would be okay to criticize Tucker's father on his parenting." Liam was silent. "If you have a problem with the way my son is raised, you need to bring it to my attention, not Cody's, not anybody but me."

He finally looked her in the eye. "I don't have a problem with the way you raise Tuck. I have a problem with the way Cody raises him."

"Cody doesn't raise Tucker, Liam," She said seriously as she sat up straight. "I raise Tucker."

He groaned. "You know what I mean Grace. I was only suggesting that he could do a better job at parenting,"

"Right, but you know what? That's not your suggestion to make, it's mine. I've already voiced my grievances with Cody about that, I don't need nor want you to do it too. I can handle this on my own." She paused as she let Liam think about that. "And another thing; you bringing up the nickname thing was totally crossing the line,"

He shrugged defiantly. "I was informing him that his son has a name,"

"You were being a smartass," She shot back. "And besides, you call him those nicknames too,"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What's your problem? I had your back, why are you on his side of this?"

"I'm not on anyone's side. But things are already not great with Cody and now after your little outburst, things are bound to only get more complicated." She stood up and started making her way into the kitchen but stopped halfway there and turned around. "Let me put it to you this way. If Cody had a girlfriend and she came to me and told me that I could be a better parent, I would not hesitate to legally keep her away from my son."

Liam stood up too. "You think Cody's going to take some sort of legal action to keep my away from Tucker?"

She let out a sigh. "You're missing the point Liam." She ran a hand through her hair. "I think maybe you should go home,"

He mimicked her, running a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "Ok, fine. You gonna come over in a little? I'll get dinner started."

She shook her head. "I actually think it's better if we cancel our date."

He wrinkled his brow. "What? You're canceling our date? Because I was a little harsh on that douchebag?"

"Whether I like it or not, that douchebag is always going to be in my life and I don't want our already rocky relationship to be any rockier, for Tucker's sake. And I'm not canceling our date because of that; I'm just not in the mood anymore. I think it probably best we take some breathing room right now."

Liam stood there with his hands on his nicely sculpted hips and Grace had to admit, it was difficult not to just throw herself in his arms, but she was upset right now and he was the cause. "Fine, I'll call you later," He said grouchily before turning and leaving.

* * *

><p>"SpongeBob! SpongeBob! SpongeBob!" Tucker chanted as he walked into his dad's house, happy meal in hand.<p>

Cody had to smile as he closed and locked the front door behind him. After leaving Grace's place the father and son had stopped by a McDonald's to get some not-mother-approved dinner and Cody had promised his son he could watch SpongeBob when they got home. Tuck immediately made himself comfortable in front of the TV in the living room and ripped open the box his meal came in. "Hey, why don't you sit on the floor and put your food on the coffee table?" He suggested. "I don't want to be finding French fries in my couch for weeks," He said as he grabbed himself a soda before making his way over to sit next to his son. Tuck obliged, sitting Indian style in front of the table as he pulled all his food out, occasionally taking a sip of his kid's size orange soda. Cody grabbed the remote, turning the channel so that SpongeBob appeared on screen. Cody set his food on the table from where he sat on the couch, sitting hunched over as he ate.

As the two ate, Cody alternated his attention from Tucker to the TV. The kid was mesmerized by the characters floating across the TV screen; he didn't even look at his food while he ate, his eyes just glued to the screen. Tuck was staring at the TV with such intense rapture that Cody remembered himself having that same focus. It was really like looking in a mirror of his younger self. Tuck had Cody's nose and the making of his strong jawline. The two had the exact same hair color and almost identical haircuts.

Cody's attention drifted when his phone vibrated in his shorts pocket. He pulled it out and looked down, seeing a text message from his coworker and friend that lived in the area, Drew McIntyre. _Club tonight. _It said simply. He knew what that meant; Drew was a notorious ladies man, one of the reason the two got along so well, and when Drew invites people out to the club, he always has a huge group of chicks lined up. Cody's first instinct was "how soon can I find a babysitter?". It took longer than it should have for him to realize no way could he just pass Tuck off to a stranger. He was going to have to skip this one trip to the club. Reluctantly he sent a reply to Drew: _Can't. Got Tuck for the weekend._ It was no surprise to him that Drew's response read _Brutal._

"Dad?" Tucker's voice broke Cody from his thoughts and had him looking up to see his son now sitting on the couch staring at him.

He smiled. "What's up? You finish your dinner?" He asked as he glanced to see only a few fries left.

Tuck nodded. "What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Well, that depends; what time do you get out of school?" Cody asked.

His son tilted his head in slight confusion. "It's summer,"

Cody felt like slapping himself. Of course it was summer; it was the end of June. "Right, right." Shit, he hadn't prepared himself for entertaining the kid all day. "Well, that's good because I've got big plans."

Tucker's little eyes lit up. "What are we doing?"

Again, shit! He didn't actually have any plans in mind. "Uh…well, I was thinking a baseball game," He said and Tuck's smile faltered, obviously the kid wasn't interested in the game. "But then I decided I'd just let you pick what we do." He mentally gave himself a pat on the back, nice save. "So what do you want to do?"

"Zoo!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Cody inwardly cringed. The zoo? Of all places! Wasn't the zoo more for toddlers? Paying to walk around and look at animals had never appealed to him. And oh shit there were petting zoo's at the zoo, weren't there? The petting zoo was the worst. The last thing he wanted to do was walk around an enclosed little pen with dirty animals nudging you for food. "The zoo?" But he'd do it; he would do it to make his son happy. "Absolutely,"

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later Cody flipped off the TV and hoisted a passed out Tucker gently into his arms. He carried him into his room, setting him on the bed and, careful not to wake him, tucked him in. After that he moved both of their luggage from the entryway where he'd dropped them when he walked in into their respective bedrooms.<p>

Cody quietly walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulling out a beer. He popped the cap off and took a long swig. How the hell was he going to get through these next few days? He didn't know what to do to entertain a six year old! He sighed as he took another long pull from the bottle.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys! So incredibly sorry it has taken me so long to update, things have been hectic for me! Sadly I've got finals coming up in a couple weeks and a ridiculous amount of papers and project to do leading up to that so I probably won't be able to update until mid May but I am going to try my best to give you guys another chapter before them-bear with me! Thank you so much for your reviews last chapter, I really appreciate them! Let me know what you thought of this one! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 6_

Grace opened her eyes at the sound of her blaring alarm clock the next morning. She hadn't slept much not only because her son was not sleeping in her house for the first time in over a month, but also because of her fight with Liam last night. She was still upset that he'd addressed the issues he had with how she and Cody were raising Tucker with Cody. It wasn't a huge issue, she knew they would get over it; they'd probably talk about it when Liam came into the bakery to get his daily cupcake.

She dragged herself to the shower to get washed up and after putting on some makeup, pulling on a pair of jeans and a 'Grace's Cupcakes' pink t-shirt, she got in her car and headed to the bakery. She normally didn't get to work until around 9:00 because she had to get Tucker ready for school or day care during the summer, but today she rolled into the parking lot just after 7:30. Upon starting up the bakery, Grace had known that she wasn't going to be able to get to work at 6 to start baking the cupcakes for their doors open time of 10:00 am due to her having a three year old at home, so she had had to hire a baker to get the early morning baking going. The doors of her bakery have only been opened for 3 years and it had taken her two years of searching to find the gem that was Natasha, her a.m. baker. Natasha was a Godsend: a reliable employee who had pride in her work and loved to have creative freedom.

Grace walked through the door of the back of the building that led her directly to the kitchen. "Morning Tasha," She greeted her baker.

Natasha smiled as she pulled a tray of cupcakes out of the oven. "Hey Grace, you're in early,"

"Yeah, well, a miracle happened last night. Cody actually showed up," She said with a laugh of disbelief.

Tasha raised a surprised eyebrow. "Wow, I'm impressed,"

Grace shrugged. "We'll see," She said. Even though she had to admit she was impressed he had actually done what he said he would do for once, she knew it wouldn't last; he'd be back to normal in no time. "I'm gonna go get some paperwork done, holler if you need something," She said as she walked into her small office, sitting down and putting her extra time to some good use.

* * *

><p>Cody had only been up for a half hour before the phone rang. He yawned as she took the wireless phone off its charger. "Hello?" He muttered in a tired tone.<p>

"Hi, it's Grace," Answered the feminine voice on the other end.

"Oh hey, what's up?" He asked as he pulled out some cereal to pour Tucker when he woke up.

"Just wanted to call and check in, see how things went last night." She answered truthfully.

He rolled his eyes and clenched his jaw. "Despite me being the worst father of the year, we managed not to set the house on fire and kill each other," He said sarcastically at the memory of her essentially telling him he was an awful dad, as well as the memory of her boyfriend calling him a shitty dad.

She sighed on the other end. "Cody…that's not what I meant," She really hadn't meant for it to come out the way it did. "I just wanted to talk to Tuck is all,"

"He's not up yet," Cody said as poured himself a glass of milk.

They were silent for a moment. "So what's for breakfast?" She asked being sure to keep her tone amiable so he wouldn't think she was prying which of course she was.

"Cereal," He answered, leaning against the counter.

"Oh," She said, pursing her lips. She usually tried to start Tucker's day off right with a good breakfast but she didn't want to tell Cody what to do.

He rolled his eyes, she obviously had a problem with what he was feeding Tuck. "What would you like me to give him?"

"Oh, well, whatever you want," She said then paused. "I usually make him some eggs and hash browns or some pancakes. He really likes waffles," She offered up.

He walked over and searched his pantry and fridge. "Don't have anything for waffles or pancakes. All I got is eggs and cereal. I'll go to the store later," He told her. He wanted to be mad at her for implying he wasn't feeding Tucker right but truth was he didn't know what his son liked to eat so he welcomed her input. She was surprised by his good nature. "So how was your night with what's-his-face?"

She sighed. "Not too good,"

"Sorry," He said both for bringing it up and also for feeling partially responsible for them having a riff. Even though he knew it was that douchebag's fault.

"Don't be, not your fault." She said. An awkward silence enveloped them. "Well, if Tuck isn't up I'll just call back tomorrow. Tell him I called?"

He nodded. "Absolutely," He said. "Bye,"

* * *

><p>Cody grimaced as he and Tuck approached the petting zoo inside the Tampa Zoo. He was not a petting zoo kinda guy. What was the fun of holding nasty food pebbles in his hands as he held it out for goats and other such animals to eat out of it? But Tucker was practically bursting at the seams with excitement so he followed his son through the gate. He instantly tightened up as other people were walking around them with animals roaming. Tuck turned to him and smiled wide and Cody smiled back. They walked over to one of the zookeepers and received a handful of animal food. Cody followed the youngster to whichever animals he wanted to feed. Cody inwardly cringed as he felt the animal eat the food out of his hand and let out a relieved breath when all the food was gone.<p>

"Can we go get more?" Tuck asked excitedly as he looked up at his dad. "That was so cool!"

Cody ruffled his hair. "How about you go ahead, I'm going to step over there and wait with all the other parents." He said as he motioned to the line of parents that were standing outside the fence taking pictures of their kids. Tuck nodded and Cody let himself out of the petting zoo, putting his hand under the hand sanitizer machine sitting by the gate. Thank God! He rubbed his hands thoroughly, hoping that would hold him over until he could find a sink to wash his hands in. He found a spot along the fence and leaned his elbows on it, unable to stop the smile from showing up on his face as he watched Tucker laughing while a goat ate the food from his hands. Cody pulled his phone out of his pocket and snapped a couple pictures. He was going to send them to Grace knowing she would enjoy them but stopped himself. That was weird. They didn't text. They weren't friends.

* * *

><p>After the petting zoo, the father son pair went and grabbed a hot dog to eat as they explored more of the zoo. Once they left, Tucker instantly fell asleep in the backseat. It was a little bit of a drive back to Cody's place so he let the kid sleep. He woke up just a few minutes left of the drive and Cody decided they should stop at the store while they were out and it was actually the best opportunity for Cody to let Tuck grab all the stuff he liked to eat. He may not be the best at this dad thing but he had had the decency to not let the kid grab everything he wanted. He let him get some ice cream and a candy bar but he'd drawn the line at cake, cookies, family size bag of Cheetos and all sugary cereal. He wanted to be a cool dad but he knew letting Tuck get all that stuff would not earn him cool points with Grace so he'd let the kid pick two things which had taken quite a while for him to decide.<p>

Cody looked at the clock when they got back into the car. Just after 4:30. He got an idea.

* * *

><p>Grace wiped down the counter at the front of the bakery when she hit the 30 minute mark before she could close down for the day. Today was a tough day for her. Liam hadn't shown to get his daily cupcake and she was starting to think he was madder at her than she had first thought. She knew he was upset that she hadn't stuck up for him when he'd started in on Cody and also because she'd ended their night early, but what did he really have to be mad at her about? She was the one that should be mad seeing as he had insulted her parenting.<p>

And then on top of worrying about her relationship with her boyfriend, she get more sad when she remembered Tucker wouldn't be home when she got there. She loved that he was getting the chance to spend some much needed time with his dad but she was used to her son being with her every day so it was hard to adjust to being all alone.

She looked up when the bell over the door rang and she smiled wide. "Hey!" She said as she walked around the counter as Tuck and Cody walked in. "What are you doing here?" She asked as she scooped Tucker into a hug.

"We just wanted to stop by and say hi," Cody answered.

"Mom! Today was awesome!" Tuck piped in with a huge grin on his face.

"It was? Well I want to hear all about it. But first let me hook you boys up with a cupcake. Any kind you want," She said as she walked back around the counter.

"Cookies and cream!" Tucker piped in as he took a seat next to his dad at one of the little tables.

"Coming up. Cody? Which kind would you like?" She asked as she grabbed the cupcake her son chose.

"Hmm," He said as he got up to peruse the variety of cupcakes she offered. "I'll take a chocolate," She nodded as she grabbed one and set it on a plate. "Looks nice in here by the way,"

"Thanks," She smiled at him proudly. They walked over to the table and she set their cupcakes in front of them. "Alright, tell me about your day,"

"We went to the zoo!" Tuck exclaimed before taking a large bite of his cupcake getting frosting all over his nose.

"The zoo! How fun!" She said jealously. She loved going to the zoo with Tuck; he loved looking at all the animals and looked at it all in total awe.

"Yeah and we stayed at the petting zoo for hours!" He added, his mouth full.

"Literally an hour," Cody said taking a bite of his cake. Grace covered her mouth with her hand so she could giggle. She knew how it was with her son and the petting zoo; she assumed he liked going to the zoo simply so he could go to the petting zoo.

Cody gulped as he saw her giggle. Something about it captivated him. He felt these feelings he hadn't felt in years. He shook it off and finished off his cake. The mother and son talked for a few minutes more, enough time for Tuck to finish his cupcake and his mom to get him a small glass of milk to wash it down with. "Ready to get going buddy?" Cody asked Tuck ready to get out of there.

He nodded and stood up. "Thanks mom!"

"You're welcome. You be a good boy. I'll see you tomorrow," Grace said as she hugged her son. "Thanks for coming by," She said to Cody, really appreciating it. She had really needed to see her son to turn this shitty day into a bearable one.

"No problem," He said before opening the door. "Bye," He and Tuck said in unison as Grace waved.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OMG, I am the absolute worst! 2 months? Unacceptable! Sorry guys, I had to study for finals then finals and then I've been a lazy bum the last month not feeling like doing anything productive. But i finally convinced myself I needed to update this story. Thank you guys so much for reading and/or reviewing, love that you are enjoying it! Let me know what you thought of this chapter! (And please forgive my tardiness)**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 7  
><em>

Cody had been tempted to stop and get a pizza for dinner on the way home but he resisted. He'd basically fed Tucker nothing but crap since he picked him up last night so he decided he'd make a reasonably nutritious meal tonight. He also wanted to make something that he didn't imagine Grace making all the often; he wanted to make something a little masculine. Once they made it to Cody's place he set Tuck up in front of the TV watching Spongebob and coloring while he went into the kitchen and started dinner.

An hour later a dinner of grilled steak, baked potato and, for nutritious value, steamed broccoli. Cody was happy to see his son dig into the meal, claiming he hadn't had steak in a long time. Halfway through the meal Tuck shocked him when he out of nowhere burst out with, "Dad, do you not like Liam?"

Cody's jaw instinctively twitched at the mention of the man but he tried not to let it show. "Why do you ask buddy?"

Tuck shrugged as he chewed on his meat thoughtfully. "Well, it's just that I heard you guys arguing last night. Does he not like you?"

Cody had to resist rolling his eyes. Liam not liking Cody was an understatement. It was a mutual hate that the two shared for each other. He had no doubt the Grace probably filled the guys mind with how awful Cody was. Really that had to be the only reason he disliked Cody; Cody had barely known the guy long enough for him to even try to get to know him to feel such a hatred for the other man. Cody had his reasons for not liking Grace's boyfriend: He just looked like an asshole; with his long hair always in a ponytail- really dude, chop that shit off; and with those grease-stained shirts Cody always saw him wearing- come on asshole, I get it, you're a mechanic, get a change of clothes; and with the protective expression he wore every time he was in a room with Grace and Cody together- hey man, if you're satisfying the woman, why look so scared whenever Cody's around. And if he didn't already have enough reasons to hate the man, what had gone down last night with him criticizing Cody's parenting had pretty much confirmed and reinforced any doubts Cody had about the guy. He was d-bag and Cody reminded himself once again to have a talk with Grace about kicking him to the curb; he wasn't Grace's number one fan, but he knew she could do better than that joker.

He shook his head to erase his thoughts so he could answer his son's question. As much as he disliked Liam, he didn't want to upset Tuck. "Nah, we just disagreed on something. Nothing to worry about little man."

Tuck seemed to be thinking about it for a second before nodding, taking his father's word for it and smiling. "That's good. I really like Liam; he plays with me and takes me out for ice cream sometimes." Again Cody had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Tuck loved Liam.

"What about me? I'm pretty fun right?" Cody asked with a grin.

His son's grinned matched his almost to a T. "Way fun!" It was just a few seconds later that a frown appeared on his young face. "You sure you have to leave tomorrow?"

Cody looked at him regretfully and leaned over to muss his hair. "Afraid so, little man, I got a show tomorrow night." Tuck's shoulders slumped but he nodded in understanding. "But I'll be back next week; we can do whatever you want to do," He offered.

"You sure?" The child asked.

"Am I sure about what?" Cody asked confused.

"You sure you're gonna be here?" Tuck asked.

Cody felt his heart rate increase at the question being asked to him. "I'll be here," He said, squeezing his shoulder. "Finish your dinner and we'll go out and get some ice cream," He leaned back in his chair as he watched his son finish his dinner.

Shit. It hit him like a ton of bricks. He really was as bad as Grace made him out to be. And Tucker was noticing it. He swallowed as he slowly chewed on a piece of beef. His son didn't trust him. He didn't believe him when Cody said he would be around next week. Cody had gotten so bad at not being around that his own son didn't believe him. It had been so easy when he was a baby. Cody could not show up all he wanted and the kid didn't notice but now he was aware of his father's flakiness. If Cody didn't get his shit together Tuck is always going to resent him for not being there when he could.

* * *

><p>The rest of the weekend flew by and Grace was glad to have Tucker back home. And not only that but he could not stop ranting and raving about how great a time he had with Cody. Grace embraced it with a smile, glad Tuck was finally getting the time with his father that he deserved. And Tuck was getting excited about when Cody was coming by next week and he was writing down all the things he wanted to do. Grace was still skeptical; she was ecstatic that Cody had followed through this time but he still had an awful track record on keeping his word. Quite frankly, Grace wouldn't believe it until she saw it.<p>

Monday morning Grace was up bright and early and made Tuck some breakfast before getting him to his friend's house so she could go to work. She spent a while in her office going over some paperwork and paying some bills but when it was time to open the store she went out in the front. She had a few loyal customers float in for their morning cupcake and then there was the bakery's usual light period between 11 and 12.

She sighed as she made herself a cup of coffee. She couldn't help but let her thoughts drift over to Liam. She still hadn't spoken to him since Wednesday night. He hadn't come in Thursday or Friday for his daily cupcake during his lunch break and then on top of that she hadn't heard word from him all weekend. So clearly he was mad at her. She'd wait and see if he came in today and if he didn't then she was going to stop by his house after work before she picked Tuck up from his friend's house.

The choice was made for her when six pm rolled around and she finished cleaning the place up and Liam still hadn't shown up. It was only a ten minute drive from her bakery to Liam's house. She parked her car in front of his house and saw his car sitting in his driveway and his lights on inside his house; so obviously he was home. She walked up the driveway and up the three steps that put her on his porch before she knocked on the door. It seemed to take him forever to answer the door but she was just anxious.

Liam pulled open the door and looked quite surprised to see Grace standing on the other end. "Hey," He said simply, opening the door wider so she could come in. She followed back to his kitchen where his tool box was open on the counter and he resumed his position on his back under the faucet.

Neither said anything for a while and she simply watched him work on the pipes under the counter. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Clogged. I think something's stuck in here," He answered with a couple grunts as he put some muscles in his wrenching.

She rolled her eyes at his answer. "No, not your sink. What's wrong with you?" She asked in neutral tone.

He stopped working immediately, his hands moving away from his work. He sat up and looked at her while he wiped his hands on a towel. "Nothing's wrong with me."

"No?" She asked. "Because I haven't seen or heard from you since Wednesday,"

"I haven't seen or heard from you since Wednesday," He shot right back as he stood up, walking to the fridge.

She tilted her head. "You haven't come into the shop,"

He closed the fridge door with a carton of orange juice in hand, walked toward her and shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't think you'd want to see me," He answered as he brought the carton to his lips.

She frowned. "Why would you think that?" She asked, reaching one hand out to touch the wrist that he had resting on the counter.

"Because you kicked me out of your house Wednesday, Grace," He said, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"I did not," She defended. "Listen, that night was a mess. I was a little upset so I didn't feel like going to your house and spending the night. But that doesn't mean I didn't want to see you,"

"Why didn't you have my back?" Liam asked suddenly setting the juice on the counter as his hands rested on his hips.

She sighed at his words. "Liam, it's not that I didn't have your back. But you surprised me with your concerns about Tucker; I felt blindsided quite frankly,"

"You know how I feel about Cody," He countered.

"Yes, but I didn't know you had a problem with how I raise Tucker. And besides, you shouldn't have said anything to Cody, that's crossing the line,"

"I just was looking out for you and Tuck. I love the little guy and it sucks seeing that asshole break his heart every week," Liam replied, his guard slowly going down.

She smiled. "And you are so sweet for wanting to protect him; I want you to protect him. But how about from now on if you have any concerns, come to me about them and then I'll bring it up to Cody." He was quiet so she reached out and intertwined their fingers. "Think about it from my side. If Cody had a girlfriend that was telling me how to raise my son, I wouldn't take it so well,"

He finally nodded in understanding. "You deserve so much better than that asshole,"

She grinned as she gave him an inviting tug toward her. "That's why I'm with you,"

A smile finally reached his lips. "God, these days without you have been hell,"

"Tell me about it; I was quite lonely while Tuck was away; I wish had had the company of a handsome, strong man to keep me entertained," She said her arms wrapping tight around him.

He grinned. "I'll show you entertainment," He said hoisting her up in his arms before attaching his lips to hers. "Where's Tuck?" He mumbled a few minutes later when he pulled away to press kisses along her neck.

"Friend's house," She said breathlessly before glancing over at the time flashing on the oven. "I've got 45 minutes before I have to pick him up," She said with a hint of suggestion in her voice.

He growled and attacked her lips hungrily before carrying her down the hall to his room.

* * *

><p>Cody sat in the back near a monitor as he watched the match that was on the screen while he pulled on his boots to prepare for his match later in the night.<p>

Ted walked in, dropping a bottle of water in Cody's hands as he walked by. "Hey, I never asked you, how was weekend?"

Cody knew he was wondering if he had seen his son. "It was good. Took Tuck to the zoo and watched a lot of SpongeBob."

Ted smiled proudly. "Good for you man, I'm sure he had a blast,"

Cody nodded. "So you going out tonight? I'm looking to get laid," Cody had been high on his time spent with Tucker all weekend and had turned down his friend's requests for him to go out with them. But when asked today he hadn't been able to turn it down. He hadn't had sex for almost a week! He had needs.

Ted rolled his eyes. "And he's back ladies and gentlemen,"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys! I felt very inspired while watching RAW tonight so I got busy! Thanks so much for all your reviews, they always make me smile. Hopefully you like this chapter, let me know! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 8_

The week had been uneventful, Grace decided as she set her groceries on the counter Wednesday evening. She had just got back from the grocery store with Tucker and was getting ready to make some dinner for him before Cody came to pick him up. Grace had spoken to Cody earlier in the week and he had assured her that he would be by around seven to pick his son up for their weekend visit. She had accepted his word with a slight hesitancy but had ultimately trusted him, thinking he had had some kind of transformation.

She had been wrong.

The phone call came around six. Just the sound of the phone ringing on the night Cody was supposed to pick up Tuck had Grace's body tense up in anxiousness. She had taken a couple deep breaths before answering; convincing herself that it wasn't Cody on the other end.

She had been wrong.

His voice on the other end held not one note of remorse and his half-hearted "tell the kid I'll try to come over tomorrow" offered Grace no apology for his late notice and lack of caring. Once he was done delivering whatever excuse he had come up with this time, Grace remained silent as she thought about how she would handle it this time. A confused "Hello?" came from Cody and that was about all Grace could take. She pulled the phone away from her ear and turned the damn thing off. She calmly put the phone back in its cradle and resumed cooking dinner. Once she was done she called Tuck over, setting a bowl of mac and cheese in front of him as she delivered the sad news that his dad wouldn't be coming today. Tuck nodded his head in a manner that told her he had been expecting this to happen. She rubbed his head affectionately and pressed a single kiss to the top of his head before turning around to make herself some food.

* * *

><p>What the hell? Cody thought as he looked at his phone. Grace had hung up on him? She never let him off without chewing his ear off, demanding an explanation. Hmm...oh well, he thought in acceptance before turning and entering the fancy restaurant lounge he was at with his buddies.<p>

* * *

><p>Grace thought all night about how she was going to handle this situation this time. She bounced around a couple ideas but she knew what she had to do: she had to go see him. She knew Cody wasn't 'stuck on the road for work' or 'at headquarters doing promo work'; whatever excuse he had spat at her this time was all bullshit. She knew he would be going out tonight with his buddies and she was going to be waiting for him when he got home.<p>

She had made a quick call to Liam to come over to make sure Tuck was alright sleeping while she was gone and then by one a.m. she was on her way to Cody's apartment. When Cody had first started his disappearing act when Tucker was only a baby, Grace wouldn't make a big deal of it and she would let it go, just telling Cody it was fine. She hadn't really know the guy that much at the time and he was a global wrestling superstar who had things to do so she couldn't expect him to drop everything for her son, could she? It took her a few years but she had eventually learned that not only _could_ she expect him to drop everything for her son but she _needed_ to expect that from him. When Tucker had first arrived she had almost felt like a nuisance to Cody but now she realized it wasn't about her at all; it was about Tucker and his paternal needs. Tuck needs a father around and Grace is going to make that happen no matter what she has to do.

Upon arriving at Cody's door she gave a couple firm knocks thinking he might be home already. It took a minute but eventually she heard footsteps and she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; now she wouldn't have to wait around all night for him to get back. Cody answered the door shirtless and with his jeans unbuttoned; Grace had to fight herself from admiring him. Even though she found him to be the scum of the earth, she had gone on three dates with him and had obviously found him attractive and he had only grown into his handsomeness, but of course she could never tell him that. "Grace?" He asked confusedly not expecting to see his son's mom standing in his doorway after one in the morning.

"Yeah, it's me you jackass," She said as she pushed her way inside.

"Hey, I got out of work a couple hours early, just got home a few minutes ago," He lied straight through his teeth.

She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to figure him out. "What the hell is wrong with you? Seriously, you are some kind of pathological liar!" She said in anger. "Listen, I get that you have a busy schedule and not much flexibility when it comes to your job…I completely understand that sometimes you have to work when you are told to work." She paused. "But really? You don't have the fucking balls to tell the truth?"

Cody ran a hand over his face as if she were irritating him. "What are you talking about?" Really Cody didn't know what she was going on about. He had been under the assumption that they were on good terms after how well last weekend had gone with Tuck. And then he'd called earlier and she had hung up on him; it had been strange; usually she yells and yells and then he is the one that ends the call. But this time she hadn't even said a word before hanging up; he had known after that that he was in trouble but he really didn't know what she was going on about right now.

"I'm talking about you being too chickenshit to tell me the truth. Does it make you feel better Cody? Does it ease your guilt when you lie to me about having to work when we both know that you really just don't want to spend time with your son?"

They were both silent as the words sank in. Cody's face got red with anger and his fists clenched at his sides. "I want to spend time with my son," He said in a dangerously low voice.

She laughed and took a step closer to him. "You want to spend time with Tuck like I want to visit the fucking dentist. Why do you lie? I don't understand why you don't just say 'I'd rather go out and pick up chicks'? It's not like I actually believe your shitty excuses anyway,"

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Cody said with a roll of his eyes.

"You're a piece of shit, you know that?" She asked rhetorically. "Let me show you something," She said as she reached in her purse and pulled out two white pieces of paper. "This is the picture Tuck drew before the last time you were supposed spend the weekend together and you canceled." She said as she held up the picture her son had drawn of him with Cody. Cody couldn't help but lift up the corner of his lips as he saw the picture. "And this is the picture Tuck drew tonight after I told him you couldn't make it…again," She said as she held up her son's most recent art. It was a picture of Tuck holding hands with a man who had long brown hair and the name written under the man's feet spelled out LIAM. Cody's eyes darkened. "Guess where Tuck put this picture?" She asked of the picture of Tuck and Liam. "directly over this one," She said of the one of Tuck and Cody. "on the fridge."

Cody's heart started beating out of his chest as he took both the pictures in his hands and stared at them.

"I know you think you are the greatest thing to walk on this earth and I also know that Tucker pretty much agrees with you. But if you keep up this off and on parenting thing you have going on right now, Tucker will find someone else to be his daddy." Cody grabbed her wrist and squeezed it in anger at her words. She looked him in the eye with no fear. "You are not going to hurt my son any more. He deserves a dad that is there for him and who wants to be there for him. Get your fucking shit together Cody, I'm sick of this." She said before pulling her wrist out of his grasp.

"Cody," A soft, husky voice said from Cody's bedroom doorway. Both Cody and Grace turned to look and he cursed under his breath as a petite blonde stood wearing just a buttoned up men's dress shirt.

Grace shook her head as she looked from the blonde to Cody. "You're pathetic," She said before leaving the apartment to head home to her son.

Cody's fists clenched as he looked down at the pictures still in his hand. What the hell was he supposed to do? He loved his son, he really did. But he was a man with needs!

"Cody?" The voice said again.

Cody didn't even bother looking at her. The mood was long gone. "I'll call you a cab," He said simply as he picked up his phone to get a taxi. Just his luck really, the one and only time he ever brought a girl home, Grace shows up to bitch him out. She had a lot of fucking nerve: reprimanding him in his own home. She'd looked hot too, all mad and protective. He shook his head both out of shock and disgust. He really hadn't thought about his attraction to her since he had found out she was pregnant but there had been a time when she was all he thought about day and night.

And these pictures, he thought, what was up with that? Did she just want to piss him off? Show him that that douchebag Liam spent more time with his son than he did. He slowly rolled his neck in anger. There was something about that guy…something that wasn't right.

_"Does it ease your guilt when you lie to me about having to work when we both know that you really just don't want to spend time with your son?"_ She'd said. He sat down and stared at the blank TV screen as he thought it over. Was it true? Did he not want to spend time with Tuck? He loved the little guy, he had had a great time last weekend hanging out with him. So no, he did not NOT want to spend time with him. It was just that he knew Tuck would always be there and parties and girls wouldn't. God, that was fucked up, he thought to himself as he rested his head in his hands. And it was obvious from the story Grace told of Tuck putting his picture of Liam over his picture of Cody that Cody was more easily replaceable than he had originally thought.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh you guys, I wish I had a good reason for not updating lately but to be honest, Summer makes me so damn lazy! Anyways, thank you so much for reading and reviewing, I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story. This was one of my favorite chapters to write, really let Grace tell Cody exactly how she feels. Let me know what you think of this chapter :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 9  
><em>

Grace stood in Tuck's room the next afternoon getting his mess in order and preparing to do his laundry. Her mind repeatedly went over what had transpired last night between her and Cody. It had been pretty intense on her part…but the more she thought about it, the more she wondered how she could have possibly handled it differently. She had gone over to Cody's with the intention of confronting him on his BS but when faced with him and his blatant lying straight to her face, she couldn't help but lose it a bit. She honestly hoped she had given him a little bit to think about; she hoped he started focusing on what was best for Tucker and not what was best for Cody.

Grace pulled some dirty socks off of her son's desk and threw them into the hamper sitting in the middle of the floor among a mountain of toys. She dropped to her knees to tackle the mess, looking at each toy to decide which organization bin it belonged in. The bins had been her idea a few months ago in order to tame the chaos that was Tucker's extraordinary toy collection. Her efforts, of course, stood no chance against the rambunctious six year old.

She paused momentarily after coming across an action figure that was undoubtedly Cody. She looked it over for a few seconds before secretly determining the figure did the man no justice and she tossed it haphazardly into the wrestling bin.

"Hello?" A voice called out, startling her so much she let out small screech of surprise. "Grace?" The concerned voice called out upon hearing her. Cody, she instantly recognized the voice.

"Um, I, uh, I'm up here…in Tuck's room," She said, clearly not expecting to see or hear from Cody anytime soon.

"You okay? I heard you scream," Cody said a few moments later as he rounded the corner to Tuck's room.

Grace stood up, stopping Cody in his tracks as she adjusted herself. "You scared me,"

Cody couldn't help but stare, and he was thankful that she quickly turned around to clean up Tuck's desk. She was wearing short-ass daisy dukes that perfectly showed off her long legs and touchable little ass. Her feet were bare and she only wore a thin white ribbed tank that did nothing to conceal her nude bra underneath. Grace usually never showed off this much skin at one time so she obviously hadn't been expecting anyone stopping by. Well, maybe Liam. He instantly frowned and shook his head. "Uh, yeah. I knocked but no one answered and the door was unlocked. You should keep your door locked." He said protectively to hide his serious attraction to her at this moment. Cody, snap out of it, he told himself. This is Grace you're checking out!

She turned around and gave him the evil eye. "Thank you but I don't need your fatherly advice," She said as she casually tossed a shirt into the laundry bin.

Cody felt himself heating up. There was only so much he could look at in his son's room and only one thing was holding his attention right now. "Sure is hot in here, you have your AC on?" He asked as he fanned himself with the collar of his t-shirt.

"It's broken," She said as she tossed a toy into one of the bins lining the wall.

"Let me take a look at it for you," Cody said, anything to leave this small space with only her to look at.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Relax. Liam's coming over later tonight to look at it. What's up with you today? You're acting weird,"

Liam, of course. "Well, I'm here now; I might as well take a look at it. Save Liam the hassle."

Grace crossed her arms over her chest. "Is this about last night?"

"I did come over here to talk about last night, yes," He said as he sat down on his son's bed, pulling a shirt out from under his butt, throwing it into the hamper.

"Well, let's talk about it," She said, pulling out the desk chair and sitting down.

Cody looked around for a second, distracted. "Where's Tuck anyway?" He asked, not wanting to get into things if his son was around.

"He's at the park for a friend's birthday," She answered. She waited for him to speak but he said nothing. "Listen, I'm sorry about how things went down last night. I came to confront you on your lying and it just escalated. I just want you to tell me the truth…don't tell me you're stuck at work when I know full well you're out partying,"

"Fair enough." He paused as he thought over his words. "I really thought things over last night and if you want me to be completely honest," He paused and she nodded. "I think I lie about what I'm doing so I don't feel so guilty. Telling you I'd rather be out with my friends than spend time with my son sounds really shitty,"

"It is pretty shitty Cody," She admitted angrily.

"Which is why I don't tell you that. But I know it's shitty and I'm going to try my best to quit it. As much as I hate to admit it, I needed to hear those things from you last night." He said honestly.

"Good. And about those pictures…it was sort of an in the moment thing," She said, feeling guilty about being so harsh.

He cut her off. "I'm glad you did. It just opened my eyes a little bit more." He pulled out two sheets of paper from his pocket. "I did, however, bring them back to you."

She accepted them but gave him one back. "You should keep this one. Tuck wanted you to have it." Cody looked down at the pick his son had drawn of the two of them and smiled.

"Thanks," He smiled at her. "I'll go look at that AC now," She tried to tell him she had it taken care of but he wouldn't take no for an answer and she showed him to it before going back to cleaning up Tuck's room.

Cody grinned to himself a half hour later in satisfaction as he heard the AC unit whirl to life. Damn it felt good to fix that; if not only to please Grace (and really what the hell was that about today?!) but also to piss off Liam when she told him he wouldn't be needed anymore. He walked back upstairs to go to Tuck's room to let her know the good news. He was greeted with her backside presented directly in his line of sight as she was standing on the desk chair, reaching up to dust some shelves. He had to stop and admire for a while. He couldn't even question himself at this point about what he was doing checking Grace out; it was out of his control; it was like he was under a spell or something. He didn't know if it was because he hadn't got laid last night like originally planned or what.

Grace made a sudden move that caused the chair to move and in a flash Cody was next to her catching her falling frame. "You alright?" He asked in a semi-low voice.

She simply nodded and gulped as her eyes dropped to his lips. Of course he had been on her mind the whole time he was fixing the AC. She didn't know what it was about this man that just had the ability to get her insides turning to mush. It had happened six years ago when she first met him, it happened every single time she saw him on TV and it was happening right friggin' now. What the heck!

Cody saw her eyes dip and smirked. He gently set her on the floor and, keeping her close, protectively looked her over, as if looking for bruises. "You alright?" He asked again.

She nodded. "A little hot," She admitted, fanning herself with her hand.

His eyes flashed at the words. "Hot?" Yeah you are, he thought, having no idea where these thoughts were coming from. "Well, I fixed that AC so it should start cooling down."

"Oh?" She asked, her eyes only momentarily finding his before dropping back to his lips.

"Mmhmm," He mumbled, his fingers pushing some hair behind her ears as he moved his face close to hers.

Her hands fell to rest on his large chest. "I hate you," She whispered as her eyes fluttered closed. She knew what was going to happen but she was powerless to stop it.

"No you don't," He whispered back, his lips hovering over her cheek near her ear.

"I do," She confirmed only moments before Cody's lips pressed firmly on hers. As if a light switched, she instantly responded, a moan escaping her lips while she pressed herself closer to him. "I hate you," She mumbled against his lips mid-kiss.

He growled into her mouth, walking her back until she hit the desk. He used little strength to lift her up and set her on the small table. "Shh," He said simply as he deepened the kiss. He didn't know how this kiss had started or why but he was going to enjoy it; it most likely would never happen again so he really gave it to her. He wasn't really sure if it was his need for sex, his sudden attraction to Grace or his hate for Liam, either way he didn't hold anything back in this kiss.

It took Grace longer than it should have, probably a good seven minutes, for Grace to realize she was making out with her son's father in her son's room on her son's desk. All sorts of wrong rolled up into one. "Stop" She mumbled pushing Cody away. "No" She said more clearly once his lips were off hers. "What is wrong with you? We can't do this,"

He wanted to point out that she kissed him back but he resisted. "I know…I know," He said running a hand through his hair.

"…you should probably go," She said, eager for him to leave. Obviously the temptation was too much for her.

"Yeah…I'm gonna stop by the park and say hi to the little man before my flight," He told her as he walked to the doorway to distance himself.

She nodded. "It's the park just down the street, to the right," She explained knowing her son would be happy to see him.

Cody nodded back. "I'll…um…see you later," He said before leaving the kids room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ahh! You guys, I have so many freaking ideas for this story it's hard to keep them all straight! Hope you liked this chapter as much as the last, let me know what you think! :) Thanks as always for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting!**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 10_

"What the hell was that?" Cody mumbled to himself as he pulled his car out of Grace's driveway. He couldn't understand what had gotten into him. He hadn't allowed himself to feel any sort of attraction to her since he ended things six years ago and then all of a sudden today he couldn't control himself! And the way she'd moaned as she let Cody take control of the kiss…it was hot. Cody rubbed a confused hand over his face as he pulled up in front of the park Tuck was at and parked the car. God, what was wrong with him? Really, though, all these years he'd been around Grace and now he decides it's best to make a move? And then to make matters worse, she's got a boyfriend and-. His trail of thought stopped and an evil smile came on his face. Oh, he could only imagine Liam's face if he ever found out about this. The satisfaction of getting one over on Liam was almost enough to make him want to do it again but he chided himself, knowing he couldn't do that again…ever. He blamed it on the heat, his not getting laid the night before and her lack of clothing. That was the only explanation.

All thoughts of Grace and that kiss faded almost immediately upon spotting Tuck. His son was on the grass with about six other kids his age playing what looked to be Simon Says, while all the parents and some other children were sitting at a nearby picnic table.

"Any chance I can get in on this game?" Cody asked as he got closer to the kids, his son's back to him. All the kids turned, some were surprised but excited to see one of their favorite superstars standing before them. Tucker turned his head and a wide grin spread over his features.

"Dad!" He exclaimed before running and jumping into his dads awaiting arms. Whispers of 'he wasn't lying' and 'Cody Rhodes really is his dad' erupted between the other kids. "What are you doing here?"

Cody smiled. "Well, I felt bad that I couldn't come see you yesterday so I thought I'd stop by and say hi," He looked over at the other kids staring at the father and son. "Hey guys, nice to meet you," It felt odd that his child was six years old and Cody had never met one of his friends. Another strike against him.

* * *

><p>Grace kept herself busy the rest of the day doing chores and bills, anything but allow herself to sit idly and think about what had happened earlier. Not that keeping busy did much; she couldn't get her mind off that damn kiss! What was his problem? Who the hell did Cody think he was, doing that while he knew full well she didn't much like the guy AND she had a freaking boyfriend! God, she didn't even want to think of how much Liam would flip if he ever found out, not that he ever would; there was no way she was telling him.<p>

He was already going to be suspicious that Cody had fixed Grace's air conditioning. She didn't know how she was going to tell him about that. She contemplated not telling him and have him still come over and fix it only to find that nothing was wrong with it. But she knew it was wrong. She also thought about telling him that she had a professional come but he would immediately wonder why she would do that when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. She sighed loudly, knowing she would have to bite the bullet and tell him….but later, he was staying over for dinner anyway, she'd tell him when he got there.

* * *

><p>A few hours later Grace opened the front door upon hearing a car pull up to drop off her son. "Mom!" Tucker shouted as he ran towards her. "You will never guess who came to the park!" Oh, she would bet she could. She politely smiled and waved to the mom of Tuck's friend who dropped him off before closing the door.<p>

"Oh yeah, who?" She asked as Tuck pulled off his shoes and socks, leaving them in the foyer before walking to the living room. She followed.

"Dad!" He exclaimed. "I was playing Simon Says with Charlie, Jake, Sarah, Frankie, and Ashley and then he was behind us!" He threw himself on the couch dramatically. "It was so cool mom! They finally believed me that he was my dad! They thought it was so cool that he came and played with us for a while."

"That's awesome, Honey," She said with a smile, ruffling his hair as she sat next to him.

"I invited him over for dinner," Tuck added.

Grace's eyes grew wide. "What?" She almost shrieked out but instead said it calmly. She couldn't sit and have dinner with Cody! And Liam!

"He couldn't. I guess he had a plane after he left to park. He's going to Chicago," Deep sigh of relief from Grace; that's right, he had said he was flying out tonight. "We should go to Chicago and surprise him!"

Oh good lord, Grace thought to herself. "Tuck, we can't just go to Chicago. I have to work. Plus, you're dad's working and wouldn't be able to spend much time with you."

His head fell. "I know…it was worth a try."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "It certainly was. Alright, I'm gonna start dinner, you want me to pop in a movie for you?"

Tuck shook his head, his excitement and energy way down from where it had been when he'd got home. "I'm gonna go in my room and play with my action figures." She sighed as she watched him leave the couch and head upstairs to his room. Poor kid just wants to spend all his waking hours with his father.

* * *

><p>"Hey you," She greeted Liam at the doorway with a peck on the lips. "How was your day?"<p>

He shrugged as he unbuttoned his blue button up work shirt that had a patch over the left breast pocket that said 'Liam's Automotive'. "Nothing special," He said then smiled at her, dropping another kiss on her lips. "Happy to see you,"

"Aw, you're a sweet talker. You hungry? Dinner's almost ready, come watch me cook," She said as she started pulling him toward the kitchen.

"Hey, wait, it's pretty cool in here. Your AC turn back on?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's working now. Come on," She said trying to pull him into the kitchen again but he stopped her.

"I better take a look at it. It shouldn't be working on and off like that," He said as he started toward the AC controls.

She reached out and grabbed his hand. "No need, it's been fixed."

Liams brows wrinkled. "You call a repair guy? Cause I told you I could fix it," He said confused.

She shook her head. "Nope,"

He waited for her to elaborate but she didn't. "So…how'd it get fixed?"

She sighed, wishing she didn't have to go there. She pulled him into the living room so they wouldn't be standing right next to the stairs where their voices would travel easily upstairs to where Tucker was playing- just in case Liam got pissed. "Ok, listen," She began once they were in the living room. "Cody came over earlier to spend some time with Tucker, he noticed it was hot in here so he fixed it. No big deal."

Liam's eyes darkened at the mention of Cody's name. "He sure is popping up a lot lately."

Another sigh escaped her lips and she reached her hands out to hold his. "He's trying harder."

"I'm surprised he would be so quick to come over after you confronting him last night," Liam wondered out loud. When he'd come over to watch Tuck while she was gone, he had noticed her grab some drawings off the fridge so he figured things had gotten pretty intense over there.

She shrugged. "I was surprised too. I apologized for being so hard on him and he said I kinda woke him up a bit. We'll see how long that lasts,"

Liam's eyes narrowed. "You apologized? Why? You were completely in the right,"

"Well, I mean I could have handled it a little better if I wasn't so angry," She explained.

"Still…He's put you through so much shit, it's his turn to take some heat," He said, pulling his hands from hers.

"Are you mad at me? For how I feel about my own actions?" She asked. She had expected him to be mad about Cody showing up not about the things she'd said to him.

"Grace, come on, I'm not mad. But, I mean, just a few weeks ago you were calling him an asshole and now you're defending him every chance you get." Liam said with his hands on his hips.

"Excuse me?" She asked with a slight edge to her voice. "I am not defending Cody, but if I feel I didn't handle something well then I am going to own up to it,"

Liam ran his hands over his face. "I don't want to fight about him…again."

She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't either,"

He took two steps forward so he was close to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. It took a few moments but eventually Grace uncrossed her arms and wrapped them around him. "It hurts that you don't respect my feelings," She told him, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm sorry, it's not that I don't respect your feelings but I don't want you to feel like you have to back down from him when he messed up and you called him on his shit,"

She was silent for a few seconds before replying, "I get that," She pulled back slightly and smiled at his smiling face before pressing a kiss to his lips.

"I'm going to check on the AC to make sure he didn't ruin anything," He told her and laughed at the look she was shooting him. "Hey, I fix stuff for a living, I'd check it out even if an AC guy worked on it,"

She laughed. "Ok, ok. When you're done, go say hi to Tuck and tell him dinner's ready? I'm going to go finish," She said

She turned around to go into the kitchen but Liam stopped her with a "hey" and he pulled her back so she was flush against him. "I love you," He said softly, pressing a kiss to her lips.

She sighed into the kiss, allowing him to deepen it for a minute. "I love you too," She said once they pulled back. He smiled pecking her once more before turning around to go check out Cody's handiwork.

Grace watched him leave with a goofy smile on her face before skipping into the kitchen. How'd she get so damn lucky?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well guys, sorry it took so long, things have been pretty busy for me lately but I'm still here! Thanks for all your reviews for the last chapter, let me know what you think of this one! Many more dramatic things to come, I promise! ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 11_

"What's on your mind buddy?" Ted asked Cody after his friend threw his things on the floor of the locker room and spent a good ten minutes mumbling under his breath while he laced his boots.

Cody looked at him surprised, as if he thought he was alone, and sighed. "Man, things got complicated this week."

Ted waited for him to elaborate but he didn't. "Well? Are you going to tell me?"

Cody ran a hand over his face and mumbled into his hands.

"What?" Ted asked because he couldn't understand a word he just said.

Cody look at him with a glare. "I made out with Grace." He barked out each word. Saying it out loud almost felt like it happened all over again.

Ted's eyes grew wide. "Well shit; I wasn't expecting that,"

"And this happened the day after she completely confronted me about lying to her about not making it to see Tuck. And did I tell you I had a girl over and Grace hates me even more now." Cody leaned back with a hopeless sigh.

"But she made out with you?" Ted asked.

A small smile came to Cody's lips as he thought of the kiss. "Yeah," The smile left and his confused expression reappeared. "But shit, I don't know what I was thinking! This complicates everything,"

Ted was silent for a while as he pondered over Cody's situation. "Honestly, Codes, I'm not that surprised."

"Are you serious right now?" Cody asked incredulously. "What are you talking about? This is coming out of nowhere six years later!"

"But is it really out of nowhere?" He saw his friend about to respond but held up his hand. "Hear me out. You two had this whirlwind three date romance that you ended abruptly; it's no surprise there are some unresolved feelings."

"Six years later Ted?" Cody asked unbelieving.

Ted shrugged. "You're seeing a lot of each other lately; feelings probably have come back up,"

Cody's face fell into his hands. It was a logical explanation. "I hope you're right Ted,"

* * *

><p>Grace had just finished helping her employee with the lunchtime rush before heading back to her office to get some paperwork done. She'd barely sat down before the phone rang on her desk. "Grace's Cupcakes," She answered as she organized the papers on her desk.<p>

"Grace, dear, it's Becca,"

Grace smiled as she heard Cody's mom on the other end. It was really funny that she and Cody got along terribly, yet she had the best relationship with both of his parents. They had been so kind and warm to her since the first day she met them, which was when she was about seven months pregnant. "Hi Becca, how are you? I haven't heard from you in a while,"

"I am doing very wonderfully actually, Dusty and I took a little vacation; I spent the time relaxing while Dusty spent most of the time on the phone," She said with a laugh.

She laughed back. "Men. Can't get them away from work for two seconds," She said knowing that Dusty specifically was really passionate about the work he was doing at FCW.

"That is surely the truth dear," Becca replied. "Anyways, I hope I'm not disturbing you at work,"

"I'm just paying some bills, I've got some time to chat,"

"Well, Dusty and I got to talking and we realized we haven't seen you or Tuck in quite a while so we wanted to invite you to dinner on Friday." She explained.

"Well that would be really great but Cody has Tuck Thursday through Saturday." Or at least she was expecting him to.

"Oh, well I will talk to Cody then, but it would still be wonderful if you could join us," Becca said hopefully.

Grace sighed and dropped her pen. "Becca, I don't know, things are just very…strained with me and Cody," Truth was, she was going to find it difficult to ever face Cody again after that hot make out session.

"Oh you two, you really need to bury the hatchet," She scolded.

"You're preaching to the choir," She said. "Listen, if you talk to Cody and he doesn't mind then I would love to come to dinner Friday,"

"Wonderful! Dinner will be at 7, don't be late! In fact, come early and we'll have cocktails." Becca said excitedly.

"Becca…remember I'll only come if you talk to Cody," She reminded.

"Of course, of course, he won't mind," She said to which Grace rolled her eyes.

"Well, let me know either way," She requested before saying their goodbyes.

* * *

><p>Thursday rolled around quickly and Grace briefly entertained the idea of having Liam over as buffer for when Cody came to pick up Tucker but she almost immediately abandoned that idea, not wanting a repeat of what happened the last time those two men were in the same room together.<p>

Tucker was sitting at the table eating a bowl of mac and cheese when the doorbell rang. He instantly jumped out of his chair and looked at Grace, as if for permission. "That's probably your dad, go answer it," And with that, Tuck was running to the door.

Grace took deep breaths as she heard Tuck yell 'dad' and then Cody affectionately telling him 'I missed you bud'.

"Dad's here," Tuck announced when he pulled his dad into the kitchen where his mom was.

Grace nodded, pushing her hair behind her ears. "I see that,"

Cody felt that spell being cast on him again. And this time he didn't have the 'she's wearing no clothes' excuse because she was in calf length yoga pants and a black short sleeve t-shirt. "Why don't you get your things kiddo?" Tuck nodded and ran upstairs.

"He'll probably be a while, we weren't expecting you till later so he hadn't packed yet," She warned him.

Cody nodded awkwardly. "That's fine."

"I'll box this up and he can eat on the road," She said as she grabbed his half eaten macaroni and cheese. Cody followed her into the kitchen and watched her search the cabinets before pulling out a Tupperware container and scoop Tuck's meal into. Even that was sexy to Cody. He couldn't even stop himself as he stepped closer, pressing his chest to her back and resting his hands on the counter, blocking her in.

Grace froze and dropped the empty bowl. "What are you doing?" She asked in almost a whisper, pulling away from him.

He looked down at his feet. "God, I don't know," He said, running a hand through his hair.

She gulped, not liking this new thing of him coming onto her. It was too much temptation! "Well, you gotta stop it," She paused. "I've got a boyfriend and you…God Cody, you're you!"

He furrowed his brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're a different guy than the one I-" She cut herself off before she said something she really didn't want to. She looked down, eyes wide. What the hell was about to come out of her mouth she couldn't even think about. She gathered herself. "You're not the same guy as when I met you." Nice save, she told herself sarcastically.

Cody could feel she was going to say something else but wasn't sure what. "Well, no, I have a son now; my life has changed a lot," He said defensively, not liking that she was insinuating he was a bad person.

"Well sure, it's just a shame you're the biggest man whore of this century," She told him.

He laughed. Sure, he was insulted but he knew guys who got around a lot more him. "Honey, I'm flattered you think that of me but I know guys that sleep with a different girl in every city,"

"And you don't?" She questioned rhetorically, not expecting an answer. "What's that saying? 'Show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are'?" She shot at him.

He raised an intrigued eyebrow and smiled amusedly. "Damn baby, tell me how you really feel,"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not your baby,"

"You used to be," He said, stepping a little closer.

She looked him in the eye. "That lasted a whole, what, three weeks?" Her tone cold. "You know, I actually envy those girls you sleep with once and then never speak to again, at least you don't lead them on," She said, saying things she'd never said before, her true feelings coming out.

Cody's smile dropped, his shoulders slumped at her words. He'd actually never heard Grace say anything about their breakup, even though it was more of Cody never calling back than an actual break up. Honestly, Grace had never brought it up to him so he assumed she was totally fine with it. But what she was saying was suggesting otherwise. "What?" He asked in a surprised, dejected tone.

She sighed. "Forget it," She moved away from him. "I'm going to help Tuck pack. You can give that to him for the car ride," She said pointing to her son's dinner which she had boxed up.

Five minutes later Grace walked down the stairs with Tucker carrying his suitcase. They found Cody sitting at the kitchen table looking at something on his phone. "All set," Grace said to announce their presence.

Cody looked up and smiled at Tuck. "Alright, let's go get some ice cream, and cake, and other things that are bad for us," He said, standing up.

"Yeah!" Tuck exclaimed excitedly as he ran and launched himself into his father's arms.

"Cody," Grace scolded.

"I'm kidding," He said with an innocent smile. He looked at Tuck and shook his head, mouthing, "No, I'm not,"

"Cody," Grace warned again with her hands on her hips.

He laughed. "Ok, ok, we'll behave," He said, leading them to the door, Grace following with Tucker's suitcase. Cody first put Tuck in the backseat of his car, handing him his dinner to finish on the car ride home. Grace followed Cody to the trunk which he opened and put the suitcase in. Once he closed the trunk, Grace turned to say goodbye to her son but Cody grabbed her wrist gently, turning her to face him. "I talked to my mom," He said quietly so Tuck wouldn't hear.

"And?" She asked, pulling her wrist from his grip and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I think you should come for dinner tomorrow," He said.

"Really?" She was surprised, she didn't think he'd want her there for his time with his parents.

"Really," He said and then surprised her with a quick peck on the lips. She nodded and turned around, walking back to the open door where her son was sitting.

"Alright, little guy, you be good for your dad ok?" Tuck nodded, his mouth full. "We're going to have dinner at grandma's tomorrow, I'll see you there," He nodded again. "Alright, I love you," She said, leaning in and giving him a kiss. "Kiss," She requested one back.

He complied of course. "Love you mom," He said and she grinned. She closed the door and turned to Cody.

"See you tomorrow then," She said.

"Can't wait," He told her with a smile before walking around the driver's side and pulling away. Grace didn't go inside until the car was out of sight. Once inside she let out a long sigh. What the hell was going on?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: It's funny, after I post a new chapter, I am always very sure that my next update could very well be within the week...it never is. I'm sorry...I get lazy, time slips away from me and eventually I get it done. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks as always for reading, reviewing and favoriting, glad you guys are loving it as much as me! Also, sidenote, I do not know Cody's mom's name so I just picked one myself. And, if you are into long chapter, the next one is definitely for you, at least double the length of my usual chapter, so you have that to look forward to...lots of things happening in the next chapter! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 12_

"Dad! Look a plane!" Tucker yelled to Cody, pointing to the toy plane the toy store employee was flying near the front of the store.

Cody smiled. "I see it bud," He said as he stood behind his son who he stared, enthralled with the toy. The father and son's day had been pretty laid back so far. They'd started off with a trip to get donuts before they headed to the aquarium. Even though Tuck had requested another trip to the zoo, Cody didn't think he could go back so soon after their last trip, so he had taken Grace's words that Tuck had a love for animals to heart and decided he would probably like the aquarium just as much. Tuck had, as predicted, loved it and had not actually been there before so it had been a first for Cody and Tuck, which meant a lot more to Cody than he would have thought. He had missed so many 'firsts' in his son's life that it really touched him to be able to share at least one 'first' with him. Another plus to the aquarium was that it had a small petting section where you could actually touch a few of the animals, which, of course, was Tuck's favorite part. After a few hours at the aquarium, they got lunch and then made a stop at the mall so Cody could pick up some things before he left on Saturday. Cody felt bad for making Tuck go to the mall so he had decided they could go to the toy store and let the little guy pick something out. They hadn't made it very far in the store before the remote control plane caught his complete attention.

While the plane held his son's eye, Cody looked around the store then looked through the store's entrance to look out into the mall before looking again at the plane before him. His whole body froze as he thought he saw something. He slowly turned his head to look again at the people in the mall and his eyes darkened. He had been hoping he hadn't seen what he thought he had…but he did. He was staring so hard he couldn't believe the person he was staring at couldn't feel the burn from his stare.

Liam. Liam making out with a woman. Liam making out with a woman who was not Grace. Right there in the middle of the mall. As if he was a single man.

Cody did not know the details of Grace's relationship with Liam but he was pretty sure they weren't in any kind of open relationship and she would be pretty pissed to know he was making out with another woman in public. He gulped and took his hands off Tuck's shoulder so he could tighten them angrily at his side. That little shit. He had had a feeling the asshole was an asshole but that had always merely been speculation and an instinct. Now it was truth, facts.

Feeling his anger rising to an impressive high, Cody navigated Tucker to the back of the store, not wanting himself to lose it in public and also not wanting Tuck to see Liam. True, Cody was not Liam's biggest fan, but Tuck really seemed liked the guy and Cody didn't want to disappoint his son or have his little heart broken. "See anything that's catching your eye?" Cody asked, trying to tame down his anger until he could actually do something about it.

Tuck was silent as he perused the aisles, occasionally pointing something out to his dad. When Cody would ask if that's what he wanted, Tuck would just shrug and move on. Cody smiled as he followed him, the kid really liked to explore his options before he committed. Ten more minutes and Tucker finally walked with his dad to the check-out carrying some new wrestling action figures. Cody couldn't be more proud.

* * *

><p>Grace pulled up to Cody's parents' house, placing the car in park before sitting back, hesitant to get out of the car. This was going to be the first time they would all have dinner together. Sure, she was close to Cody's parents but she had never joined them for dinner with Cody there. And, of course, they had all been together for Tuck's birthdays before but it was never just them. She had a feeling this was going to be pretty awkward, especially when she considered the things that had been happening when she was around Cody lately, the pull was just relentless and nonstop.<p>

She had talked to Liam earlier, before she left the house, hoping they could get together after dinner; it would give her an excuse to leave early and she was pretty sure she would need to see him after this dinner. But, he'd told her he was going to be pulling an all-nighter at work. She had offered to stop by after and bring him some dinner but he told her he really had some stuff to finish tonight. It sucked but she understood; there were some days she had to spend extra hours at work too.

Grace finally pulled her butt out of the car and walked up to the door of Becca and Dusty's house. It was a beautiful ranch style house with open land surrounding the house, giving an air of privacy that Grace envied. She loved her house but she always felt like her neighbors were so close and wished there was more space between houses.

Becca opened the door almost immediately after Grace knocked. "Hey!" Grace greeted as she was pulled into a hug.

"Oh Grace, you look beautiful," Becca complimented. Grace smiled back; she was only wearing skinny jeans, flip flops and a simple white blouse, but she accepted the compliment.

"Thanks Becca, you look pretty great yourself," She said back as she stepped inside, following Becca into the living room where the three boys were gathered.

"Oh, Gracie, darlin'" Dusty greeted her as she walked into his line of sight. "You just get prettier and prettier every time I see you," He said with his southern drawl as he pulled her into a tight hug. "I don't know how my dumb son ever let you go," He said after pulling away from the hug.

She rolled her eyes; he said that to her almost every time she saw him. "He never really had me Dusty,"

He chuckled. "He had you long enough to have a kid,"

"Dad," Cody's voice boomed as his tone warned his dad to quit talking. Grace looked over at him, offering a small smile and a nod of acknowledgement before facing Dusty again. Of course Cody would be in the same jeans he had worn the last time she saw him; she had of course noticed because they hugged his butt and muscular thighs just right. And his army green t-shirt stretched across powerful chest just enough to show he worked on his body but not so tight he was busting out of it.

"Alright, alright. All I'm sayin' is Gracie is someone you should hold onto," Dusty said in defense.

"Yeah, yeah," Cody mumbled. "I'm such a disappointment,"

Grace heard him but ignored him because she had a feeling he hadn't wanted to be heard.

"How's that bakery of yours honey?" Dusty asked, his deeply pronounced southern accent always making her smile.

"It's good, it's good," She said as she sat her purse down next to the couch. "We miss you coming by though," She said with a smirk. Dusty would usually stop by once a week or so to get his much needed sugar fix.

He chuckled. "Darlin', no one has missed that more than me, but I'm under doctor's orders," A few months ago Dusty hadn't gotten a clean bill of health from his doctor and he'd been ordered to cut back on the sweets.

"Aw, I'm just messing with you, we know you need to get better," She said giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Mom!" Tuck exclaimed, as if he just noticed his mom was there. He stood up from where he was lying on the ground and walked over to her.

"So nice of you to finally say hello," She joked, rubbing the top of his head.

"Mom, mom," He said, ignoring her. "Look what grandpa got me!" He thrust his two hands filled with little hot wheels in her face.

"Wow, I see, those sure are nice. But grandpa, you didn't have to do that," She said, giving Dusty a look.

"Aw, come on now, I gotta spoil my grandson." He defended.

"You shouldn't. Every time you see him you give him a new toy," She said in a motherly fashion.

"Mom!" Tuck exclaimed. "He can get me toys if he wants!"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me? Tucker, your grandfather does not need to spoil you with gifts," She really didn't care if Dusty got Tuck toys, but she did not want her son expecting them whenever he came over.

"Aw, Gracie, I'll cut it back, I promise. I spoil all my grandchildren though, it is in the rules of being a grandparent," He said. She nodded and smiled at him. He was right, he didn't just spoil Tuck, he spoiled Tuck's cousins, Cody's sister's kids, too.

"Grandpa, show me that trick again," Tuck said, moving to stand directly in front of his grandfather. Dusty sat down on his chair and got to work entertaining the kid.

Grace moved off to the side a little bit to watch and noticed she was standing next to Cody. "So how did your day go today?"

"It was good. We got some donuts and then headed over to the aquarium." Cody answered.

"Oh, the aquarium," She said in an excited tone as she turned to face him. "We've never been, how was it? Did he like it? I bet he had a blast!"

Cody smiled at her enthusiasm. "Yeah, he had a great time. Of course, I had to pull him away from the touch pools, literally,"

"Touch pools? Like touching something?" She asked, now concerned. "What can you touch at the aquarium?" All she was thinking was sharks and other dangerous sea creatures.

"Relax, he touched like kelp and sea stars and the bat ray, I think it's called."

"Bat ray, like a sting ray?" She asked, even more concerned.

"Would you relax? It was obviously safe for him to touch these things or they wouldn't have been in the touch pools." He explained, wanting her to not get so worked up. "I wouldn't let him get hurt anyway,"

She sighed, knowing she had hurt his feelings. "You're right, I'm sorry. I just get worried, you know, if I am there then I can see for myself he is safe."

"I understand," He said, pushing his hands into his pockets.

"Well, you had a good time there, that's great," She added.

He nodded. "And I may have gotten him some new action figures,"

She tilted her head to the side, looking at him like 'not you too'. "You guys are spoiling him rotten,"

He laughed. "I know, but I dragged him to the mall so I could pick some things up before I leave and I felt bad, I had to get him something." He purposefully left out the part about seeing Liam, now wasn't the time.

"Alright, fine." She said, not really mad. Truthfully she was glad Cody got Tucker some gifts every once in a while, Tucker deserved it for putting up with all the shit he put up with. "I'm going to see if your mom needs any help," She said offering him a smile before turning and walking into the kitchen. "Mmmm, it smells wonderful,"

Becca turned to her and smiled. "Thank you, I'm just about done,"

"Need help?" She asked but Becca was already shaking her head. "What are we having?" She asked though she had a good idea.

"We are having baked chicken, lightly crisped broccoli, and freshly mashed mashed potatoes and gravy."

Grace groaned at her words. "I love you for making my favorite meal,"

"Oh?" Becca questioned nonchalantly. "Is it your favorite meal?"

Grace's eyes instantly narrowed; she knew that tone, she was up to something. "Alright, what's up?"

Becca looked at her in mock confusion. "What's up?" She repeated.

Grace tilted her head and pointed her finger at the older woman. "You're up to something. You know full well that this is my favorite meal, why are you acting like that is a surprise?"

Right after Grace finished her sentence Cody walked into the kitchen, taking a deep breath to breathe in his mother's cooking. "Smells good mom, it almost ready?"

Becca smiled at him as she grabbed a gravy boat to put the gravy in. "Just need two minutes, why don't you kids get the others at the table." She said, shooing the two of them away. "Oh! Cody, why don't you taste the chicken real quick, tell me how it is,"

Cody obliged. "So good mom, it's no wonder this is my favorite dish," Cody said before kissing his mom on the cheek and leaving the room.

Grace looked over at her with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. "Well that sure is interesting isn't it?"

"Oh it's merely a coincidence." Becca shrugged her off.

She sighed. "Even if, Becca, I just don't want you to get your hopes up…Cody and I aren't going to end up together, no matter what you think,"

It was Becca's turn to sigh. "Please don't ruin my dreams tonight,"

Grace smiled at her and nodded, leaving the room to join the others at the table.

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes into the dinner and it was surprisingly going well. Not at all awkward, despite Cody sitting directly across from her, next to Tucker with Becca and Dusty at the heads of the table. They had just been discussing the basics: her bakery, Cody's wrestling, Dusty's work at FCW and Becca's new hobbies. Things began to get awkward when the one topic she didn't want to talk about, came up: Liam.<p>

"So, Gracie, how's that boy of yours?" Dusty asked with his mouth half full. "What's his name again? Lenny? Leslie?" That got a laugh from Cody.

Grace sent Cody a glare. "Liam," She corrected. "And he's fine," She hadn't spoken to Becca and Dusty much about Liam, just that she was seeing someone.

"Things are going good with the two of you?" Becca asked.

Grace couldn't help but let her gaze drift to Cody, who was watching her intently. "Yeah…things are good,"

"That's wonderful to hear," Becca said.

"What does he do again?" Dusty asked, though he was looking at Cody when he asked, as if he had the answers.

"I think he works on cars," Cody answered.

"He's a mechanic," Grace corrected, feeling like Cody was trying to put Liam down by the way he had answered.

"That's right, that's right," Dusty said with a nod. "He didn't want to come with you tonight?"

"Dad, come on, her boyfriend doesn't want to meet you," Cody told his dad.

"I don't see why not," Dusty said, a little insulted.

"Cody," Grace warned him, not liking how he was influencing his parents on her boyfriend. "That's not it at all Dusty. He's just busy; he's pulling an all-nighter tonight to finish up some work,"

"Oh, that poor guy, no one should work this late," Becca said, even though the men in her life pulled strange hours. "I'll fix him up a plate and you can bring it to him,"

Grace smiled. "That'd be great. I was thinking of bringing him food anyway. He, of course, told me not to, that he was too busy, but he's got to eat."

"I wouldn't," Cody instantly gave his input. Inside he was panicking. He had a feeling Liam wasn't working tonight; he was with the woman he had been making out with earlier.

Everyone looked at him. "Why?" Grace asked.

"He told you not to, respect the man's wishes," Cody said, though it pained him to defend Liam and tell Grace to respect him.

Grace looked at him for a minute, he definitely seemed like he was up to something. "We'll see,"

* * *

><p>After everyone was finished eating their dinner, Grace took a few plates with her into the kitchen, ordering Becca to not lift another finger, as she was going to do the dishes and clean up. Grace was at the sink, washing a plate when she heard footsteps. "Can you get me a rubber band and pull my hair back? It keeps getting in the way," She said, thinking Becca had just walked in, disregarding Graces demand that she not help.<p>

Grace was happily scrubbing away when she felt hands that were definitely male at the base of her neck, resting there for a few moments before gently pulling her hair into a low ponytail. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and rinsed the plate she had been washing, setting on the counter before turning to stare into Cody's eyes. "Sorry, I thought you were your mom."

He smiled. "Just me," He said back. She expected him to step back but he didn't, he stay awfully close to her. "Just wanted to let you know mom and dad took Tuck to get some ice cream,"

"Oh? So it's just us?" She asked, not trusting herself alone with Cody after what had happened last time.

"Yeah, I promised I would help you clean," He was staring so deep into her eyes she just about launched herself at him. It reminded her of when they had been together and it was that thought that had her suddenly break eye contact and turning back to the sink; she couldn't let herself get hurt by him again.

"So what's your problem with Liam?" Grace couldn't help but ask after a few minutes of silence as she washed and Cody dried.

He sighed. He wanted so badly to tell her about what he saw but he doubted she'd believe him. Plus, he had to think about how he wanted to handle this situation. "Just trust me, I've got a bad feeling about the guy,"

"No offense but trusting you has never worked out that well for me," She shot at him.

Cody was silent for a minute, watching her profile as she ignored him. "Wow, tell me how you really feel,"

She turned to look at him. "You don't know anything about Liam." She reminded him.

"Which maybe allows me to see him for what he really is, maybe you're too far in and you're blinded." He suggested.

"That's ridiculous," She said.

"Is it? You saw how quick he was to attack me a month ago, unprovoked I might add," He reminded her.

"He's just looking out for me and Tuck," She told him. He swallowed at those words; he should be the one protecting them. That thought sent his mind reeling; did he really want that? He didn't know but he did know he didn't want another man doing it.

"You don't need him to do that, I can look out for you guys," The words were leaving his mouth before he really thought about it.

She raised an eyebrow and gulped. "Are you serious?"

He grabbed her wet gloved covered wrists. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it,"

His eyes sucked her in and she felt herself getting put under his spell. "Who's going to protect me from you?" She whispered.

His heart stopped at his words and before he knew what he was doing, he had hauled her up against him, plastering his lips to hers as her wet glove covered hands landed on his back, curling her fingers in, clutching his shirt, her gloves getting his shirt wet with little hand prints. "I won't hurt you," He murmured against her lips as he easily lifted her up, setting her on the counter.

"You already have," she murmured back as she efficiently pulled the gloves off her hand, throwing them on the floor as she let her hands roam his back before her lips attached to his again.

He groaned into her mouth, his hands gently and methodically massaging her hips. "I've grown up," He whispered as his lips moved to her ear, using his tongue to run around the shell of her ear.

"Have you?" She asked before letting out a loud moan when his lips kissed their way down to the sweet spot on her neck. "Mmm…what's going on with us? Why is this happening?" Her hands were frantically moving around his back, eventually making their way to his chest, resting her hands on his muscular pecs.

"I don't know," He said as his lips moved against her skin. "All I know is I can't stop thinking about you, of being with you." Her eyes fluttered closed at his words as her hands moved up and down his chest.

His lips found hers once more and his hands, like the pro womanizer he was, systematically went to her legs, rubbing them for a few moments before his hands went to her zipper. She moaned as she pushed him away, coming to her senses. "I won't cheat on Liam…he doesn't deserve that," She said before zipping her jeans back up.

Cody inwardly groaned knowing that Liam didn't care enough about Grace to not cheat. He definitely couldn't tell her now though because she would just accuse him of wanting her, which he really, really did. "He doesn't deserve you," He said, helping her off the counter, but pressing his hips into hers, pinning her to counter.

"Don't say that," She said, adjusting herself before Cody's parents and Tucker came back.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not going to be able to forget about this, you do know that, right?"

She gulped. "I won't either," She admitted softly. She felt Cody's hand touch her cheek and she instantly relaxed into his touch. "Why are you doing this to me?" She asked, her eyes focused on his. "I just found Liam and things were great and then you go along and do this! Why now?"

"I wish I knew," Cody told her, pushing her hair that had come out of the loose ponytail he had secured behind her ears.

"I was just getting over you, like really over you," She told him.

"That was six years ago," He said, surprised that she had only now gotten over him.

Fire lit behind her eyes. Ok, obviously that was the wrong thing for Cody to say. "I loved you Cody. You know when we confessed our love for each other? When we were both so amazed that we both felt the same way after only three weeks?" He was just staring at her and she was getting mad. She heard the front door open and loud voices as Becca, Dusty and Tucker had gotten back from getting ice cream.

She sighed. "I better get going," She said, moving away from Cody before they were caught. She grabbed the gloves off the floor and as she set them on the counter she saw the wet marks she had left on Cody's back. "Crap, you're all wet,"

That's my line, Cody thought, but knew better than to say that right now; things had just gotten serious. "I'll just tell them I had a bug on me, or something," She nodded, letting him deal with it. "Grace," He said before she could leave the kitchen. She looked at him. "Please just trust me and don't go see Liam tonight."

She stared at him momentarily before nodding. She didn't know why but she would just listen to him because he felt so strongly about it. She was just a few steps away from leaving the kitchen when she stopped and walked back a few steps. "Cody," He looked up from when he had been looking at his shoes. "Did you ever really love me?" She didn't know what she expected him to say or what she wanted him to say. All she knew was after his sudden disinterest in her six years ago, she had doubted the way he had really felt about her and this was her one chance to find out.

But she didn't get her answer, or maybe she did. Cody just stood there looking at her, his mouth opening occasionally to answer but it always closed. She gulped and nodded, offering a sad smile before turning and leaving to say goodbye to everyone so she could head home and sulk.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yay, another chapter! I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the ridiculous amount of time I made you wait before putting it up. Love, love, love your guys' reviews; thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, following or whatever you're doing to enjoy this story, I'm glad you are liking it! Let me know what you thought of this chapter, major drama! Oh, also, I have no idea what Cody's mom's name is so I just picked one. :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 13_

Cody pulled up to the auto shop the next morning pausing momentarily in front of the shop to make sure he had the right place before expertly backing his truck up into a parking spot right across from the entrance. He put his car into park before glancing around the small parking lot; once he noticed the car he was familiar with he stepped out of his truck and made his way to the shop entrance.

"Good morning, how are you doing today?" The perky receptionist greeted him as he walked up to the desk. Behind her was a window wall that allowed him to see into the garage where all the repair work went down.

He smirked at her. "Pretty good, and yourself?" She certainly was a cute thing. Cody briefly wondered if this was the woman Liam was cheating on Grace with; once Cody had seen Liam making out with another woman, he'd been so focused on making sure it was Liam, he had not even gotten a good look at the woman. Truth was, if Cody hadn't been so infatuated with Grace, he would have for sure asked this girl out.

"I'm doing wonderful, thank you," She returned. "How can I help you?"

"I need to speak with Liam," He said seriously.

"Do you have an appointment?" She asked, looking a little frazzled as she clicked a couple times on her computer. "He's working on a car right now,"

"Tell him Cody's here; he'll see me," Cody said confidently.

She looked at him skeptically for a few minutes before excusing herself and walking into the garage. He watched through the windows as she approached a car and spoke some words. A moment later Liam was following the woman back to the front desk, his eyes fixed on Cody suspiciously through the window as he walked across the garage.

Neither man greeted the other and Liam simply nodded his head for Cody to follow him down a narrow hallway with one door on the left which Cody assumed lead back into the garage, one door on the right which as he walked past it he saw it was a restroom, and one door at the end of the hall which he realized was Liam's office. "I don't know what the hell you're doing here," Liam spoke as he pulled open his office door.

The moment Liam turned around to face him, Cody's hands had gripped the collar of his shirt and hauled him up against the wall. "You got anything you want to tell me?" Cody said angrily, getting in the man's face.

"What the fuck?" Liam demanded, pushing at Cody's hands to get loose. His efforts got his feet back on the ground but Cody only pushed him harder into the wall.

"I saw you, I fucking saw you at the mall," He growled.

"Congratulations," Liam said through clenched teeth. "What is your deal man?"

"I saw you making out with that chick that wasn't Grace, you fucker," Cody said, giving him a little shake before releasing him.

Realization crossed Liam's face. "I don't know what you're talking about," He lied badly.

"Fuck you," Cody spat at him. "I saw you and I was with my damn son, what if he had seen that?"

Liam simply shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about," He repeated.

Cody gave an unamused chuckle before grabbing him by the shirt again and slamming him against the wall. "Here's what we're going to do asshole: you're either going to tell Grace that you've been cheating on her, or you're going to end things completely with her. If you don't have the balls to do either of those then I'm going to tell her," He growled at the man in a low tone, showing him he meant business.

Cody released him, taking a few steps back. Liam puffed out his chest. "You really think Grace is going to believe you over me?" He laughed. "You lie to her every time you talk to her."

"Well, it's not just my word she'll be taking," Cody said before producing his phone. "Pictures are worth a thousand words aren't they?" He asked with a cocky grin. He hoped he was convincing because he sure as hell hadn't taken any pictures of the affair though he wished he had thought of it, definitely would be better to convince Grace with them.

Liam's eyes darkened and his hand shot out to look at the phone.

"Ah, ah, ah," Cody said, pulling the phone out of reach. "I would hate for you to see them and then delete them; I gotta keep these safe in case I have to show Grace,"

Liam's hands clenched into fists at Cody's words. "You little shit. You're just jealous that I've got the one woman you can't have. Even if she dumps me, she'll never take you back."

Cody was this close to telling that man that he'd had a couple make out sessions with his girlfriend over the past couples weeks but he held back not wanting to make things messy for Grace. "I'm not doing this to get her back, I'm doing this so she doesn't get hurt and so my son doesn't get any more attached than he already is," He said truthfully. It just so happened that all this information had fallen into his lap when feelings were starting to be rekindled. "Do the right thing, don't make me tell her," Cody said before walking out of the office. The receptionist didn't bother trying to hide the fact that she had been openly staring at their exchange, or as much as she could see, and her eyes followed Cody as he passed. "Have a nice day, darlin'," He said with a grin before leaving. He hopped in his truck and pulled out; he had a son to pick up from his parents and take on a bike ride.

* * *

><p>Grace wasn't this kind of girl. She wasn't the type to sit around waiting for her phone to ring or a knock to come on her door. Liam was ignoring her. Well, not completely but they hadn't seen each other or spoken with the exception of a few text messages in almost a week. Plus, the text messages were only to tell her he wasn't going to be able to see her tonight due to work, for three nights in a row. She let out a sigh as she tried to focus on the numbers she was crunching for work. Grace understood, he was busy; he was running his own business and she knew how it went, she'd had quite a few nights like that too. But it was almost a week and he didn't answer her phone calls. He just sent her back a text message with some excuse as to why they couldn't meet up. Something felt off. She had this sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that he was going to end things between them. It was a tough pill to swallow; they'd been together for almost a year. She just didn't know what had happened all of a sudden. Sure, Cody was around more and he was obviously upset about that but he wouldn't really end things over that, would he?<p>

In addition to worrying about things with Liam, she was also worrying about things with Cody. Things had gotten pretty intense the other night at dinner. Not only were physical barriers being crossed with all the kissing but now emotional ties were being brought back up. She didn't know what the hell she had been thinking when she had asked him if he had ever loved her. God, what an idiot! What did she think he was going to say? Yes? And what if he had said yes, what then? Would she jump into his arms? And then what? He'd drop her like a hot potato and tell her that was in the past and he was repulsed by her now.

She shook her head of the image. She was being ridiculous. Things with Liam were going to be fine. And once Cody got over this sudden attraction to her, things between them would go back to normal. Only, she didn't want them to; he was being so good to Tucker and she didn't think she could handle seeing things go back to the way they once were.

* * *

><p>Grace stared at her phone when it rang as if it had grown a head. It was well after three in the morning and she had been unwinding while lying in bed reading a book. She marked her page in her book and grabbed her cell phone, looking at the caller i.d. to see who could be calling at this time. Cody's name flashed at her. Her heart clenched as she instantly expected the worst. "Hello? Cody? Are you ok?"<p>

He chuckled. "I'm fine, are you ok?"

"Cody, you scared me…why on earth are you calling so late?" She asked, putting a hand on her heart to calm down.

"What are you doing?" He asked simply.

She didn't respond immediately. "What? Are you serious?"

"Did I wake you?" He asked.

"No…"

"So what are you doing?" He asked again.

She was so beyond confused but couldn't help the smile pull at her lips at the oddness of this phone call. "Reading,"

"What are you reading?" He asked as he relaxed on his bed.

"_The Big Sleep_," She answered, fingering the pages of her book.

"Ah, you're a crime genre person huh? A classic, one of my favorites really. Ask me what I'm reading." He directed her.

She grinned. "What are you reading Cody?"

God, even the way she asked that was sexy. "_Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_," He told her.

Her eyes lit up. "Shut up! That's been the next book on my list for a while but I'm having a ridiculously hard time finding it," She was pretty shocked. She'd never taken Cody for a reading kind of guy; he'd been more of a comic book reader when they were seeing each other, not really novels.

"You can borrow it when I'm done, I'm about half way through," He said, glad they had novel interests in common.

"You sure are full of surprises Mr. Rhodes."

He grinned. "I am, aren't I?" They were silent for a few moments. "Dinner was fun the other night,"

It was something alright. "It was, surprisingly."

"We should try to do it more often," He suggested.

"Yeah, Tuck would love that,"

"So…did you end up going to see Liam?" He couldn't help but ask.

She let out a long sigh. "No,"

"That sure was a loaded sigh…want to talk about it?" He asked.

She was silent for a moment before she spoke, surprising even herself at her honesty. "Things are…weird right now. I don't know…we've been communicating through text messages and only then so he can tell me he won't be seeing me that day."

"I'm sorry…you don't deserve that,"

"Don't I?" She suddenly asked. "I mean, I've basically been cheating on him with you…I feel horrible, he doesn't deserve this,"

He was silent. He didn't want to talk about Liam. "The answer is yes," He said out of nowhere.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"You asked me if I ever really loved you." He reminded her. "The answer is yes, of course I loved you, more than you could ever know," He said in a whisper, hoping she would hear his sincerity.

A tear escaped her eye before she was even sure she believed him. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"I would never do that." He confirmed. They stayed on the phone in a comfortable silence for a good five minutes, both of them thinking about what Cody had just said.

"I better go, I have to get up in a few hours."

He nodded. "Goodnight, Grace,"

"Goodnight…and Cody," She said, waiting until he made a noise for her to go on. "Thank you for telling me." She said before hanging up. She lay in bed that night with a smile on her face and a wonderful squeeze of her heart that she hadn't felt in years…six years to be exact.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Holy hell I've been MIA! So sorry guys! Time got away from me: first I had finals, then Christmas, then New Years, then I got my wisdom teeth out and was out of action for like 2 weeks and then I started school again and am only now getting back in the groove. So sorry again for my crazy long wait, hope you can forgive me! Thank you so much for your reviews and of course for just taking the time to read this story. Let me know what you think of this chapter! Oh, and we've got some much needed flashbacks in the next chapter so you guys can see how Grace and Cody first met. :)**


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 14_

Grace had trouble falling asleep that night, her conversation with Cody on her mind. She didn't know what the hell was going on. The moment Cody had stopped communicating with her six years ago, she had promised herself she was done with him; she never wanted to see him again. Then Tucker had come along and she compromised to co-parent with him. But this was all very new to her. She was actually starting to feel her feelings for him from six years ago coming back again. But it wasn't just her now; she had Liam. How could she feel the way she did about her boyfriend and then also have the feelings she did for Cody? It just didn't make sense.

Grace couldn't help but think back to when she'd first met Cody. He'd been such a charmer but in a cute way, not in the man whore way he is now- or no, not recently, recently he seemed like the man she first met.

Flashback

"_What can I get you?" Grace asked with her head down as she wiped down the bartop._

"_Your number," Was the reply she got._

_She looked up and couldn't help but smile when she was looking at a very attractive male: tall, short, cropped brown hair, blue eyes, angular jaw and a wide smile showing his straight white teeth. "Well that's not on the menu, try again." This was probably the worst part of the job. She was pretty used to getting hit on as a bartender, but turning down the cute ones took a lot of willpower. It wasn't that she couldn't accept a date, she just chose not to; they may seem sane talking to her in the bar but get them alone and they might be psychopaths picking out their next victim._

_His smile grew wider. "Scotch on the rocks," He answered. She nodded and in an instant set his drink in front of him. "Could I at least get your name?" He asked her before she could find something to keep her busy._

"_I don't know, I've got customers," She told him what she told every guy who hit on her._

_He looked to his right and then to his left. Nothing but a couple bikers drinking beers to his left and a girl and her boyfriend making out to his right. "Looks pretty empty to me,"_

_Crap, of course, Wednesday's were usually a slow night. She sighed and looked back at him. "Grace," She told him._

_He smiled. "Grace," He repeated before taking a sip of his drink and studying her. "I like it, it suits you,"_

"_Thank you. And your name?" She asked because, hell, if she was going to tell him hers then she wanted to know his._

"_Cody, it's a pleasure to meet you," He said, extending his hand to her. The minute she placed her hand in his he turned it and brought it up to his lips where he placed a chaste kiss._

_She hated that she blushed at such an obvious and cliché move. "You here by yourself Cody? Or do you always bar hop alone trying to pick up chicks?"_

_He chuckled and let her hand go. "Two questions in one huh? I never bar hop alone; I'm with a couple of my buddies." He said gesturing behind him where three rather large men sat in a booth sipping from beer mugs, occasionally looking over to see how their friend was doing with the cute bartender._

"_You guys live around here? I've never seen you come by," And remember seeing them at the bar she would. All four of them were majorly attractive, tall, and muscular to the max._

_He nodded. "Yeah we do and we've stopped here a few times. Never seen you though, I certainly wouldn't have waited this long to approach you if I had." His grin only grew with each word he said._

_She chuckled. "You're a little sweet talker, aren't you?" She saw he was about to say something but before he could a customer walked through the door and she welcomed him in. She tossed Cody a reluctant smile that told him she had to get back to work before she made her way to the other side of the bar to get a drink for her customer. After that a few more customers came in and there was some cleaning she had to do. She saw Cody hang around the bar for a few minutes after she left him before he went back to the table with his friends. She came back to his spot later that night to grab the bill he set down to pay her. Under the bill was a small piece of paper that, after she turned it over and surveyed it, she saw he had wrote his phone number on. She made the move to put the number in her jeans pocket but last minute her brain took over and her hand dropped it in the trash. She got numbers that she trashed all the time, why was this guy any different?_

End Flashback

Grace smiled at the memory. Sure she had thrown his number away but she kicked herself every day afterwards. He was on her mind a lot after that. There was just something about Cody that had stuck with her that she couldn't forget about, no matter how hard she tried. And lucky for her she didn't have to live with that regret forever because just two weeks later he showed back up at the bar.

Flashback

"_Hey Tim, sorry I'm late, my car wouldn't start," Grace said as she walked through the bar's entrance._

"_No problem, it happens," Tim, her coworker, told her as he wiped down the bar. "It's pretty slow right now anyway,"_

"_I've got it from here then," She said as she walked into the back room, stowing her purse away before coming back, ready to relieve Tim and take over her shift. "Thanks for understanding,"_

"_You got it," He said giving her shoulder a light squeeze before clocking out and leaving._

_Grace was only behind the bar for a few seconds before she heard someone sit down in front of where she was clocking in. "What can I get you?" She asked._

"_Your number," A familiar voice replied._

_She slowly looked up and grinned when she saw Cody grinning back. "I walk right into it every time, don't I?" She looked around him to locate his friends but didn't see them. "Here alone?"_

_He shrugged. "When you got a woman on the mind, it is best to go find her without having to wait for your friends,"_

_She raised a brow. "Oh yeah, whose this woman? Is she here?" She played along._

"_The only woman I see here is you," He said though there were a few other women there. "I don't ask every woman for her number you know, despite what you may think of me,"_

"_Really?" She asked, even though she had enjoyed their flirting, she found it hard to believe he came here to see her, specifically._

"_Really. I've been here for a while too; it kind of sucked to come here expecting to see your beautiful face behind the bar and instead I was stuck staring at that guys ugly mug for an hour,"_

_She smiled. "Tim does not have an ugly mug,"_

_He raised a brow this time. "Compared to you Grace, it's ugly,"_

"_You remembered my name," She couldn't help but remark._

"_Of course I did," He said simply. Grace looked around to see if any customers needed anything but everyone seemed pretty content. She looked back at Cody and he smiled. "So how about that number?"_

_She sighed and slouched a little. "Look, Cody" She started and he cut her off._

"_You remembered my name," He said with a grin._

_She smiled back at that. "Look, Cody…I like you but I don't go around giving my number to strangers that I meet at the bar."_

"_I respect that," He said honestly, actually really happy she didn't give her number to random men. "So how about a date?"_

"_I don't date weirdos I meet at the bar either,"She told him._

"_Weirdo?" He questioned. "Babe, I hate to break this to you but I'm the least weird person in this bar,"_

_She laughed. "Despite the fact that you may be right, I still can't go out with you,"_

"_Why not? Weren't all the people you know at one time a stranger? You had to get to know them to be friends." Cody pointed out. "I'm harmless, I promise,"_

_She pursed her lips together, unsure. "I don't know,"_

_He stared into her eyes for what felt like hours though she was sure it was only seconds. His eyes were beyond hypnotizing and if he asked her again, she knew her answer this time would be yes. "Alright, I can't force you." He said, standing up, throwing a bill on the bar. He was much taller than she had thought he was, at least six foot, whereas she was only five foot seven. "But how about you give me a call some time and we can chat, get to know each other," He suggested. He saw the cringing look on her face and he grinned. "I knew you wouldn't give me your number but now you won't even accept mine?" He chuckled and pulled a scrap of paper out of his pocket, taking a moment to scribble something down on it before handing it to her. "Promise me you will keep this one?" He asked. She nodded and when she went to grab it, Cody grasped her hand and pressed a kiss to it like he had the last time they'd met. "Hear from you soon then," He said before walking out of the bar, Grace's eyes following him the whole time. Once he was out of eyesight, she looked down at the paper in her hands and before she could start thinking rationally, she pushed the paper down into her jeans pocket and got back to work._

End of Flashback

Grace's hand reached down to pull open the bottom drawer of her nightstand. After a moment of rummaging she pulled out the very piece of paper that Cody wrote his number on that day. She knew she should have thrown it away years ago but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She told herself that she was keeping it for emergencies, just in case she ever lost his number in her phone but she knew the truth. She'd promised him she'd keep it.

Still, even that memory wasn't enough for her. She'd never put his number to good use, never garnering enough courage to make the call. For a few weeks she went into work with bated breath, hoping to find Cody there waiting for her, but he never was. So she'd figured he moved on or gave up on her. That hadn't been the case though, which she learned a couple weeks after she'd given up.

Flashback

_Grace was at work and it was actually pretty busy, the bar was crowded with people demanding drinks for themselves and their table. Luckily she had Tim there to help with the crowds. When there was a slight lull she went outside for a little ten minute break. Most of her fellow bartenders popped out there for a smoke but she usually ate a snack as she people watched and looked up at the stars, just taking in the silence._

"_Do you know how hard it is to want to call someone but you can't because you don't have their number?" A voice called out to her. She turned her head and inwardly gasped as she saw Cody walking toward her. Damn, each time she saw him she saw more of him: the first night she only saw him sitting down, the next night she saw him sitting and then walking away and now tonight she saw all of him and he got better looking every time she saw him. "It's also pretty damn frustrating when you don't have someone's number but they have yours and aren't putting it to good use." He said as he got closer, just a few feet from her._

"_I've been busy," She replied so meekly that even she didn't believe herself._

_He grinned, reaching a hand out to touch her waist, slowly bring her closer to him. "I've been patient," He told her, leaning his head closer to inhale her scent. "And I'm not sure I can do it any more,"_

_She gulped as she felt his lips slide across the skin of her neck but inwardly whined when he didn't press any kisses. "8…1…3…6…5…4-" She began but was cut off._

"_What?" Cody asked, confused as she pulled away slightly. He was trying to seduce her and she was reciting numbers?_

_She offered a small smile as she tentatively rested her hands on his pecs. "My phone number…you wanted it?"_

_A wide smirk cross Cody's lips as he felt a sense of accomplishment. "Yes, please go on," While he listened to her he placed kisses on her neck and ear, though never making a move to write the number down, knowing it would be burned in his memory the way Grace herself was._

_There was some silence between them as they enjoyed being close to each other before Grace spoke again. "And the answer is yes," She whispered in his ear._

"_Yes?" He questioned in her ear, loving the closeness he felt to this woman._

"_Yes, let's go on a date," She told him. _

_He pulled back slightly and before she knew what was going on, his lips were on hers. The kiss was a simple, no-tongue, I-like-you-and-want-to-know-more-about-you, yet incredible kiss. "You really make a man work for it, don't you?" He joked causing her to burst into laughter._

End Flashback

It was hardly the most romantic way she'd been asked out but damn if she hadn't been put under his spell immediately. After first meeting him, she regretted throwing away his number. After their second meeting, she regretted not calling him. When he'd shown up that day, immediately upon seeing him she knew she didn't want to regret anything when it came to him ever again so she'd immediately reminded him of his offer.

It was sad to remember how they'd met and then think about how the past six years had been between them; it was hard for Grace to believe, really. They'd had such an instantaneous connection and he had everything she looked for in a man. Then he'd ended things just as suddenly as they'd begun and now she knew her feelings for him were coming back. And even though he'd told her he had cared about her back then, she had no clue how he felt for her now or what had changed between then and now.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I am alive. Sorry guys, this has been a really stressful semester and I have barely had any downtime. Just wanted to get you guys an update so you know I'm still writing this story, hopefully you guys are still interested! Let me know what you think of this chapter!**


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE Superstars.

**Give Me One Good Reason**

Chapter 15

"Hello?!" Cody yelled out as he walked into Grace's house. He had knocked and rang the doorbell a few times but received no answer so he had let himself in. Grace had to be home because this was the time they agreed upon for him to pick up Tucker.

"Dad?" He heard Tuck yell out before raced down the stairs and into his arms.

"Hey little man!" Cody said hugging his boy tight.

"Dad I heard the doorbell but I'm not supposed to answer the door," The boy explained.

"It's okay. Where's your mom?" He asked, actually excited to see Grace today. They had had an interesting last couple of conversations and he wanted to see where her thoughts were. She has been all he has been able to think about lately; he hasn't even been in the mood to party with his friends, not to mention even think about other girls.

"She's outside with Liam," Tuck said. "I'm going to finish packing,"

The minute Tuck was out of Cody's sight he frowned. Liam was here? That son of a bitch. Didn't he remember the last conversation he had had with him? He thought he had been clear for him to stay away.

Cody heard the sliding door to the backyard open so he made his way there. "Cody, hey," Grace said with a smile as she saw him walk into the living room. "I didn't hear you come in,"

"I let myself in, Tuck came down to greet me. He's packing," He explained as he followed her into the kitchen.

"Sorry about that, Liam and I are outside barbequing," She told him as she opened the fridge pulling out some condiments and toppings for their burgers.

"Liam? You guys ok now?" He asked. Quite honestly he couldn't believe she was acting so normal after their last conversation where he had told her that he did love her all those years ago.

She nodded. "Oh yeah, we talked and he says he's just been really busy,"

"You think that's it?" Cody couldn't help but ask. "He didn't mention anything else?"

She sent him an odd look. "Like what?"

He shrugged. "Well you know, it's just curious that he is all of a sudden too busy to make time to see you,"

She sighed. "Cody, don't say things like that. That's not how it is at all. I understand; sometimes I get really busy too and it's hard to pull yourself away from work when you own your own business."

He resisted pointing out how his work situation could be similar; but he held back, knowing it would only cause a ridiculous amount of trouble and this wasn't about him. "Okay, okay," He said, holding his hands up in defense with a playful smile. "I can't help but be suspicious, I'm sorry,"

She smiled back. "You should go outside and talk to him, he wants to apologize,"

Cody frowned. "I'd rather stay here and talk to you," He said, stepping closer. "We have some things to discuss, no?"

"No, Cody, we don't." Grace said sternly.

He stood up straight, very rigid, obviously uncomfortable. "Oh…ok, so you were just using me as a distraction from Liam being 'busy'." He couldn't help but put 'busy' in quotes, knowing what he was really up to, and it wasn't work.

"No, Cody, that's not it at all," She said instantly. Before she could say anything further, Liam walked in.

"Hey Cody," Liam said with a wide smile. Cody clenched his fists, just about two seconds away from punching this man silly. "Hey man, you know I wanted to apologize for the way I acted the last time we were both here, I was way out of line," Liam had this shit eating grin on his face, obviously he felt pretty cocky because he had directly defied Cody's demand that he stay away from Grace. Hell, Liam wasn't going to let this guy tell him what to do and he highly doubted the wrestler had any sort of evidence of his affair, so he was feeling confident of his word versus Cody if the man was really so stupid to say something to Grace.

Grace was smiling at both men at Liam's words. "Cody, isn't that nice of him?" She asked as if she were talking to Tuck, encouraging him to accept the apology.

Cody nodded. "Yeah, real nice. Thanks," He added because he could feel Grace watching him expectantly. He wasn't going to let Liam take control of this situation. "So Liam, Grace says you've been busy at work?"

"Yeah, I've had my hands full," Liam said with a sick smile that Cody couldn't believe Grace wasn't picking up on.

"I'm surprised to see you here then. Sure you don't have an _affair_ you need to attend to?" Cody asked, using his own innuendo to the man's infidelity.

Liam's smile faltered as he glanced at Grace but saw she was just smiling like an idiot, glad they were getting along. He shook his head. "Nope, I cleared my day for my baby,"

"You sure? It would be a shame for you to_ cheat_ your work," Cody said, again making Liam nervously look at Grace to see if she picked up on Cody's words.

"It's fine," Liam said a little harsh.

Cody smiled wide, feeling really good about transforming this douchebag from extremely cocky to downright guilty in a matter of seconds. "Alright then, just make sure you stay _faithful_ to your work," He couldn't help throwing in one more, reminding the guy that he had given him a warning and he hadn't heeded it as advised; all's fair now. "Tuck!" He yelled. "You ready buddy?"

"Coming!" Tuck yelled back before he ran down the stairs, his backpack on, rolling his suitcase down the stairs with his stuffed duck tucked under one arm and some wrestling toys in his other hand. "Ready Dad" He said as he walked into the kitchen where his parents were. "Bye mom," He said, walking forward a few steps to wrap his arms around his mom as much as he could without dropping his things. "Bye Liam," He said though Cody noticed he did not give the man a hug. That was strangely satisfying for Cody.

Cody followed his son to the door, leading the way outside to his car. He stuffed his things in the trunk while Tuck got in his seat, ready for the short ride to his dad's house. "Cody!" Grace said as she walked over to him. "Listen, about earlier, it's not that-" She started to explain the conversation they had been having before Liam had come inside.

"Don't worry about it, I get it," He said to make her feel better.

"No, no, really, it was…I…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Come over tonight," Cody blurted out before he thought about his words.

"What?" She asked, surprised.

"Come for dinner. There's something I need to tell you," He told her, knowing as he looked at her here standing in front of him, she reminded him of when he first met her and he knew he couldn't hold in what he knew about Liam for much longer. It was time to come clean.

"I don't know," She said, unsure.

"Come on…unless you and Liam have plans?" He asked.

She shook her head. "He's heading back to work later."

"Then come, it will be fun." She was silent for a while. "Tuck would love it, you know he would," He said, knowing those were the magic words.

"Ok," She said instantly as she looked at her son in the back seat.

"Great, come over around 7," He suggested and she nodded.

"See you then," She said before saying bye to Tuck again and heading inside.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, here I am with an update...5 months later! I'm the worst, I know, but I was feeling incredibly lazy this summer and not motivated at all. Sorry, guys, but I finally have an update for you! Hopefully I'm back on track and can get you more frequent updates. Let me know what you think of this chapter, I love hearing what you have to say. Thanks for you patience! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE Superstars.

**Give Me One Good Reason**

Chapter 16

Cody looked at his watch and saw it was just after ten. Grace had called earlier and said she wasn't going to make dinner but she would come later but he didn't expect her to be this late. He was just about to give up on her when there was a soft knock on the door. He jumped up and made his way to the front door to let her in.

Grace offered him a soft smile when the door opened. "Sorry I'm late, I stopped by the bakery to do some paperwork and I wanted to get through some stuff before I abandoned it for the night," Grace explained as she walked in Cody's condo.

"No problem, I did put Tuck to bed though. He tried to wait up but he just crashed." Cody told her. She followed him further in the condo and looked around. She'd never been there unless she was picking up tucker, or that one time when she rushed over here to confront him while he had a random woman in his room. But she didn't want to think about that.

She shook those thoughts from her head. "So…you wanted to talk?"

"Yeah," Cody said softly and with a sigh. He was not looking forward to this conversation but it was something he had to do. "Come, sit," He said sitting on the couch, patting the spot next to him.

She hesitantly walked over and took the seat, clasping her hands together nervously. "You're scaring me,"

He offered her a smile. "Don't be scared." He paused to collect his thoughts. "A few weeks ago, Tucker and I were at the mall, in the toy store. He was watching this toy demonstration thing and I looked out into the mall and...and I saw Liam kissing some girl." He paused and saw her eyes narrow. "I wasn't sure if it was him at first but I definitely got a clear view of him and it was him. And it wasn't you he was kissing." He felt like he got that all out kind of fast but he didn't want to stretch it out.

Grace was silent for a few moments, studying Cody's face and then she looked down at the hands in her lap and let out a strangled laugh. "You're something else you know that?" She said before raising her eyes to look at him. "How low will you go to break me and Liam up?"

He sighed, having a feeling she would react this way. "I knew you wouldn't believe me but I had to tell you. I couldn't keep it to myself anymore. I visited him at his shop last week and threatened him and told him to tell you or I would. Seeing him at your place today, offering some weak apology and acting all cocky, not thinking I would tell you…I just had to say something."

"It was not a weak apology, he feels bad for how he treated you! I can't believe you would make something like this up Cody. You've gone too far," She said with tears in her eyes as she stood up to leave.

Cody reached his hand out and grabbed her arm, hauling her against him as he stood up. Before she could react he pressed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss that he tried to transfer all his feelings for her through. He pulled away a few moments later. "I would never make something like this up…I care about you too much to do that."

"Well, I just can't believe you! Liam would never cheat on me, I know that," She said, feeling torn. She truly didn't believe either man would hurt her like this.

He sighed and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ears. "You said he told you he was working tonight?" She nodded. "I doubt he's there,"

"You think he lied to me about where he is tonight so he could go be with…another woman?!" She whisper yelled angrily at his suggestion.

"You have to trust me Grace. Come on, I'll drive you there and you can see,"

"No!" She yelled at him, pulling out of his embrace. "No! I'm not going to listen to you and your lies." She said as she stomped to the front door.

"Grace," Cody called out as he followed her into the hall.

"No Cody, don't. You've done enough tonight," She said as she ran away from him.

"Dammit," Cody groaned to himself, running his hands over his face in frustration.

* * *

><p>Grace didn't know what she was thinking. She had been on her way home to stew in the anger she felt toward Cody right now and then, the next thing she knew she was pulling onto the main street that led to Liam's shop. She pulled into the parking lot and let out an audible sigh of relief when she saw Liam's car parked out front. She hadn't even realized she had been holding her breath before pulling into the parking lot and she didn't realize the relief she would feel at seeing her boyfriend was at work, and not with some dirty mistress like Cody suggested.<p>

She was just going to pull through and head back home but before she knew what she was doing, her car was in park and she was stepping out into the cool night air. Well, now that she's here she might as well say hi and see if she could help him with anything. The lights in the reception area were off and she briefly thought maybe he had locked up but as she gave the door a small tug, it opened easily and allowed her easy access. She looked around, wondering where he was but when she looked through the big window behind the reception desk she saw the garage lights on and a shirtless Liam standing at a counter next to a sports car, leaning over his stereo, adjusting the radio for some better tunes.

Grace felt a smile pull at her lips at the sight of him. See Cody, she thought to herself silently, you're wrong, he's right here where he said he would be, working hard and doi—

Her thoughts trailed off as movement behind Liam caught her eye. A quiet gasp escaped her lips as she saw a half-naked woman walk out from behind the car and wrap her arms tightly around Liam. Liam's lips stretched wide across his teeth before turning around and pressing his lips firmly to the woman's lips. His hands trailed down her body, one hand stopping near her bra clad chest and the other squeezing her red lace covered ass.

Grace stared with her mouth slightly open, her hands on her cheeks in disbelief. What. The. Fuck. She felt tears fall from her eyes. Even though Cody had warned her, she never imagined seeing this…this…betrayal.

Now what? What was she supposed to do? Her first instinct was to leave and hightail it back to Cody to tell him he was wrong but oh so right. But her body wouldn't move. It was in a trance, as if it was in shock.

Liam had just picked the woman up and set her on the hood of the sports car, his hand moving to the strap of her bra when Grace felt her hand reach out at the desk in front of her, grasping the first thing she touched. The stapler left her hand and smacked into the large window before she even realized what she was doing. Liam and his lady's heads snapped in her direction at the sound and upon seeing her, he immediate jumped away.

"Grace!" He squeaked in surprise. "Uh….this…we…" He trailed off as he looked at the woman he had been about to undress as if asking her for advice on how to handle this situation.

Grace, whose eyes had been trained on Liam, trailed over to the woman. She felt a punch in the gut when she noticed the woman Liam has been cheating with is the freaking receptionist! Grace couldn't help but think of all the times she had come to visit Liam at work and had talked the girl, trusted her working with her boyfriend, and all the times she told Liam the girl should get a raise. All that time he had been fucking her!

Grace looked back at Liam and saw him in the same position, his guilty eyes burning into her. "You are sick," Was all she could think to say before running out of the shop. She heard him yell her name but she ignored it as she climbed into her car and slammed on the gas pedal, needing to be at her home as soon as possible.

She opened her car door before she had even put the car in park after pulling into her driveway. She practically ran across the driveway and yanked her front door open, dropping her purse on the floor and running upstairs and throwing herself on her bed.

Grace let out a deep breath as she stared up at the ceiling, tears running down her cheeks as she thought of what she had just seen. A sob left her lips before she desperately pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket and called a number that was beginning to be used more and more as time went on.

"Grace?" Cody asked into the phone, surprised to see her calling him.

"Cody," She whispered in a teary tone.

"What happened?" He asked, concerned.

"I went to his shop," She said, her voice a little more clear as his voice was already calming her. "I wasn't planning on it but I was driving there before I even realized it,"

He sighed, having a feeling he knew what she was going to say. "He wasn't there,"

"No, worse, he was there!" She cried.

His brows wrinkled in confusion. "He was there? And that's worse that's him not being there?"

"Yes, Cody, it's so much worse! He was there and was about to fuck his receptionist on the sports car and I had to watch it," She said rubbing the tears in her eyes.

Cody hissed on the other side. "Oh fuck…oh Grace, baby, I'm so sorry," Fuck! He wanted to go over there and beat the shit out of Liam for being such a pig. But he needed to be here for Grace. "Where are you? Do you need a ride?"

"No, I drove home. I'm home," She sniffed.

"Do you want me to come over?" He asked, wanting to comfort her as best he could.

"No, no…please don't," She said and Cody couldn't help but feel a little hurt at that. "I just…I just need to be alone and process all this."

"Are you sure? I'm a good listener," He offered.

She smiled a little at his words and sniffed again. "No, really," She let out a deep breath, already feeling a little better at hearing his soothing voice. "I should be alone right now. I just wanted to call you and hear your voice,"

He smiled at her words. "Well, if you need to hear my voice again, I'm only a phone call away. You can wake me up as many times as you want."

"Thanks Cody. I'm going to try to sleep…it's been a long night," She confessed, wiping some stray tears from her cheeks.

"Ok sweetheart, but promise to call if you need anything," He demanded.

"Promise,"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Probably the chapter you have ALL been waiting for! I know I've been waiting for it too. Hope you all liked this chapter, let me know what you thought! As always, thanks for your continued support and reviews, I'm glad you're enjoying this story as much as I am!  
><strong>


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

**Give Me One Good Reason**

_Chapter 17  
><em>

Cody got an early start the next morning; he began with a quick workout in the gym of his condo complex and then he woke Tucker up so they could go on over and check on Grace. Cody had barely been able to sleep last night with thoughts of Grace dealing with Liam's bullshit.

The two boys were out the door before nine and stopped at the donut shop, as Cody promised Tuck, before pulling into Grace's driveway.

Tuck had been curious why they were visiting mom, but Cody didn't want to tell him all the details so he simply told his son that she had had a bad night last night and needed some company.

Cody twisted the knob on the front door and shook his head disappointedly when it opened without him having to use Tuck's key. He motioned for Tuck to be quiet when he walked in, Cody followed, making sure to lock the door behind him. He set the kid up in front of the TV with a donut before he headed upstairs, taking them two at a time, with a donut wrapped in a napkin in his hand.

Once he reached Grace's door he stuck his ear to it, listening to see if she was awake. Figuring he wasn't going to walk in on her naked or scare her or anything he quietly opened her door, closing it silently behind him. He turned around to see her curled up in her bed, her blankets wrapped tight around her, only leaving her head sticking out. He walked around to the other side of the bed and smiled when he saw her with a small smile on her face, her eyes watching him.

"You could have hinted you were awake," He said softly, setting the donut on the bedside table next to him as he sat down on the empty side of the bed.

"I heard you guys walk in," She explained as she pushed herself up to sit against the headboard.

"How'd you know it was us? It could have been a robber," He challenged, watching as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get rid of any tangles she'd created while sleeping.

She grinned at him. "Do robbers break into houses at nine in the morning these days to watch TV?"

He leaned his head back to rest on the headboard and let it loll to the side as he grinned back. "Ok, you got us," Then he got serious as he remembered something. "But it wouldn't be breaking in because you left your door unlocked. Anyone could have just walked in through the night," He lectured.

She frowned. "I didn't even think about it. Just wanted to get in bed last night," She told him.

"How you feeling?" He asked, using his hand to brush away some of the hair that fell in her eyes.

She sighed but smiled anyway. "Not too horrible." She paused for a few moments before elaborating. "You know…truthfully…if I'm going to be honest with myself, when I look back on the past couple months, it's pretty clear that our relationship was over. And really, it's not even that our relationship is over that hurts. It is really the betrayal. That's what hurts the most; the fact that he's been cheating on me for who knows how long with his receptionist instead of just breaking up with me," She confessed.

Cody wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. So it was the receptionist he was cheating with; Cody had had his brief suspicions when he'd visited Liam at the shop, but he hadn't known for sure. "He's an idiot Grace," He whispered as he pressed his lips to her temples to comfort her.

She turned to face him. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I should have trust you were just looking out for me,"

"Don't be sorry. You trusted Liam and had no reason to believe he would be cheating," Moments of silence passed between the two and Cody couldn't help himself as he pressed his lips to hers. He didn't attempt to deepen it, and neither did she, but he did feel her reciprocating, a feeling of pressure on his lips as they both relaxed into the kiss. "Have I mentioned that he's a huge idiot?" Cody asked as they separated, their foreheads pressed together.

She smiled then changed the subject. "Did I see you bring in a donut with you?"

He grinned. "You did," He told her before twisting to grab the donut. He was about to give it to her but pulled it just out of reach before she could take it. "You can have it on two conditions,"

She raised an eyebrow in interest. "I'm listening,"

"Ok, number one, I would like another kiss," He told her with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes with a smile then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips, pulling away before he could take it further. "And your second condition?"

"You come with me and Tuck to the zoo,"

For a split second, Grace felt her heart stop. Not at all the condition she had expected. This totally proved to her this was a completely different Cody than the Cody she had once known, and really for the better. The fact that he didn't suggest a date or sex or something equally as "Cody" shocked her. He wanted her to spend time with him and their son; an actual family outing that, considering months ago Cody was barely around to spend a day with Tuck, showed Grace his priorities had changed and he had finally come into fatherhood and wanted to share it with her. She never in a million years could ever dream of asking more from him. Near tears, she told him, "I wouldn't want to spend my day any other way," She said before placing her hands on either side of his jaw and pulling him for a passionate kiss that she never wanted to end.

A surprised moan escaped Cody's mouth when their lips met but it quickly turned into a satisfied groan as he pulled her closer, dropping the donut on the bed and pulling her on his lap. Cody didn't know where this reaction had come from but he wasn't about to pull away and demand an explanation for her sudden passion. Right now, them sitting in bed, her lips on his, her desire for him obvious as her tongue continues spearing into his mouth and exploring, took him back to six years ago when they'd first met and their desire for one another was unquenchable. He knew for himself, whenever he wasn't with her he was thinking about her wondering what she was doing, what she was wearing, who she was with, where she was, and how quickly he could get there. She was a constant presence in the back of his mind always and after he had left years ago suddenly with no explanation, it had taken him months to ease his desire so he could live without being lovesick.

Before Cody even knew what was happening, Grace had pulled away and reached for the donut, sliding off his lap to sit next to him, her leg tossed over his. "Thank you," She said before taking a bite of the maple donut.

He blinked at her, dazed and lusting for her. "Uh….thank you," He told her back.

She sighed as she leaned her head on his shoulder, chewing her donut thoughtfully. "It touched me that you wanted to share your day with Tucker and with me,"

He put his hand on her pajama shorts clad thigh. "I want to spend all my days with you and Tuck," He told her honestly, baring his soul for her.

Grace held her breath as she looked up at him, tears in her eyes but not falling. "You're killing me," She said, her mouth full of half chewed donut

Cody grinned. "You just ruined a romantic moment," He teased her.

She swallowed and pressed another kiss to his lips. "I want to spend all my days with you too." She told him and paused. "I fell for you again the moment you showed up for your weekend with Tuck after a long absence. I hated myself for it too, knowing how you just left me and how you couldn't be there for Tuck. But it was like on the inside I knew, I knew you were capable of changing and becoming a better man and father," She confessed, their faces inches apart. "I'm so glad I didn't just count you out."

"I never stopped being in love with you," He told her. "I know you might not believe me, but I used other women to forget about you. I didn't want to come around to see Tuck because it hurt to be around you, and my visits became less frequent when Liam was around because it tore me up seeing you with another man when I knew you were made for me," He saw the confusion in her eyes and knew what she was going to ask. "Why did I leave you in the first place?" She nodded. "I was young and dumb, Grace. I wasn't expecting to fall in love with you, I saw you at the bar and thought you were attractive and I just wanted a fling. But you were always on my mind and I couldn't forget you, even after you'd blown me off…multiple times," He smiled at her and saw her lips tilt up a little at his words. "But I did not think I would fall in love with you after three dates. I was too young to fall in love; I was just starting my professional career and I didn't want to be tied down to someone at home. I wanted to travel the world and be able to hook up with anyone I wanted. I didn't want to be responsible for hurting someone at home." He paused, thinking of how to phrase his words. "But during that third date, I knew I would do it for you, I would marry you and leave you every week to travel for work, only to be home a couple days each week. I knew I wasn't ready to be with one woman, and I knew I would hurt you, betray you in ways that no one deserves. Truthfully Grace, not only was I scared of the feelings I had for you…but I knew I would hurt you years later, heck even months after getting together and I couldn't do that to you. I thought it best if I just leave, let you find someone else, someone who would treat you better and could be with you every single day of your life."

She sighed as she caressed his face. "I should have had a choice in the matter,"

He shook his head, leaning into her touch. "I didn't trust myself. Like I said, I was young and dumb. I knew I didn't have the self-control to stay faithful to someone at home, no matter how much I loved them." He let out a sigh. "I thought I was protecting you. But I was only hurting myself and you in the process. I can't believe you didn't think I loved you then," He told her, remembering the conversation they had had at his parent's house weeks ago.

"You left without any word," She defended, not mad, but frustrated now that she knew why he left. "You just left me. What was I supposed to think?"

He stared into her eyes meaningfully. "I'm so sorry Grace," He said, running his thumb under her eye when he saw a single tear fell. "If I could go back…I would have done so much different. If I could take away the hurt and doubt I caused you…I would,"

She held the hand he had on her cheek and a small smile came to her lips. "We can't go back and we can't change the past. We can only go forward,"

"I can't wait to go forward with you," He told her. "And Tuck,"

She smiled. "Me neither," She said before pressing her lips to his.

Before their kiss could intensify they heard Tuck at the door, "Mom? Dad? Can I come in?" The broke from their kiss, their lips still touching as they both smiled.

"Come on in buddy," Cody announced, pecking her once more before pulling away, both of them leaning back on the headboard, his around wrapped around her shoulders as she cuddled close to his side, taking a bite from her donut.

Tucker pushed open the door, smiling when he saw his mom. "Mom!" He yelled, even though he had only seen her yesterday, he loved his mom, and he had been sad when his dad told him she had a bad day yesterday. "You feel better?" He asked as he jumped on the bed, sitting next to his mom. She looked at Cody quickly, wondering what he had told their son. "Dad said you had a bad day yesterday, are you ok?"

She smiled at her son, leaning forward and placing a sloppy kiss on his forehead. "You are the sweetest boy a mom could ask for. I am feeling much better, thank you Tuck,"

"Tuck, mom's going to join us at the zoo today," Cody said before taking a bite from Grace's donut when she offered it to him.

The child's eyes widened in excitement. "Yes! Mom, it's going to be so fun, we're going to see the gorillas, and the giraffes, and the elephants, and the rhinoceros, and the lions, and the flamingos, and the petting zoo, and the hippos, and the….." Tucker continues listing all the animals his brain could think of as Cody and Grace smiled at each other in happiness.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the wait guys! I graduated, then the holidays occupied me, and now I've been enjoying some much-needed free time before I get an adult job (scary!). I planned on having a few more chapters after this one, but as I read this one, which I wrote a few months ago, I realized I don't want to force anything else. I think I have a nice ending planned, and I hope you all are still reading, even though I totally wouldn't be surprised if I've lost some readers with my spotty updates. Anyways, so happy people continue to enjoy this story as much as I do, and let me know what you thought of this chapter! :) **


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